The Pit
by Goldenrod
Summary: Kit and the Toa Mahri must now face their toughest adversaries yet, the Barraki, in order to possess the Mask of Life.
1. Mahri Nui

Disclaimer: I don't own Bionicle or most of the events in this story, which take place in the books, only Kit.

* * *

Another morning dawned on the city of Metru Nui. There was still much to be repaired and rebuilt in the City of Legends, which had been abandoned for thousands of years, but, thanks to the efforts of the Matoran, much had already been accomplished in the past few days at making their home functional again. About half of the vast chute system that covered the city was operational, the Great Temple was almost finished being rebuilt, and everything else was going as smoothly as possible. Soon, everything would be ready to re-teach all of the Matoran the technology they used to know like the backs of their own hands.

However, in spite of all this, Turaga Dume's heart was heavy. As he gazed out in the distance, he recalled events that had happened over the past few weeks: sending the Toa Nuva to a dangerous island where a Kanohi Mask of Life could be located, which was needed to save the life of the Great Spirit; not hearing from them and fearing they must've perished; Jaller demanding to know what was going on; Nokama telling him, even though the Turaga agreed the Matoran were not to be told of the impending doom that was sure to occur with the Great Spirit's death; and Jaller, a few other Matoran, and the Toa of Light gone missing, no doubt to try to find the Toa Nuva. Though the Turaga assured him surely now that their human friend, Kit, their realm's Protector, was back, things would turn out fine after all, he was still skeptical of what she could possibly do to avert the coming apocalypse. When he met her, she seemed so . . . simple.

On top of that, thinking of Nokama's actions made him burn up a little. Despite their decision, she had to go and tell Jaller everything. Although, according to what Vakama and the others told him, this wasn't the first time Nokama shared information that the other Turaga believed was best kept secret. She once, begrudgingly, trapped Toa Gali in an underwater cave where she found an ancient carving of herself and the Toa Metru and Kit, something that the other Turaga had wished to stay hidden. Both times, Nokama claimed that both the Toa and the Matoran had earned the right to know the truth.

Dume, personally, couldn't understand it. Whereas he usually stayed in the Coliseum, away from the casual sights of Matoran, he noticed that the other Turaga seemed to have a paternal relationship with the denizens of the city. Along with that, he had been the sole ruler of the city for centuries. The fact that he now had to share that rule with six other Turaga was a little . . . uncomfortable, to say the least.

* * *

"Oof!" Hewkii grunted as he hit bottom.

The remainder of the Toa Inika and Kit soon followed. "Now I know why humans call the first step a woozie," Nuparu commented.

"I believe you mean 'doozie', Nuparu," Kit corrected.

Jaller, meanwhile, sat up a little and shook his head to clear it. When he looked up at the others, he noticed someone was missing. "Where's Kongu?" he asked. Feeling something tap his shoulder, the Fire Toa looked behind to find his comrade right underneath him.

"Could you please get off of me, Jaller?" the Toa of Air asked in a slightly squished voice.

Jaller was on his feet in an instant and apologized as he gave Kongu a hand up. "Everybody ok?" he asked, turning back to the rest of the group.

"Fine, considering," Matoro answered as he dusted himself off.

Jaller then began to lead the way down the tunnel ahead with the others in tow—except for Kit, that is. Standing in the hole she landed in, she looked up, hand to her brow. Up above, a near pin-prick speck of sunlight shone through, marking the surface from which they descended. Hewkii noticed the girl wasn't following, and walked back to see what was going on. He followed her gaze, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

"What are you looking for?" he asked.

"My stomach," the girl replied, "I think I left it up there."

"Ah, get outta there," the Stone Toa said as he picked her up by the hood of her shirt; he knew she was joking.

Kit giggled as he lifted her and set her back on the ground and they left to catch up to the others, never even suspecting that several pairs of hateful, murderous eyes were watching them.

After several minutes, the group was still walking in the nearly complete darkness of the tunnel. Jaller used his fire to light the way. The silence of the trek was broken by an almost audible growl, causing Kit to stop, startled. Nuparu noticed, "What's the matter?"

"Didn't you guys hear a growl?" the girl asked in a bit of an apprehensive tone.

Suddenly, Matoro caught a strange glint of light at the corner of his eye. "Hahli, look out!" he shouted, but it was too late. Hahli just managed to turn her body slightly when something clipped her in the side. She cried out in pain and fell; Jaller just barely caught her. Many shrieks filled the tunnel, and the Toa Inika and their human companion turned in the direction from which they were coming.

Before them was a squadron of humanoid reptilian creatures, all armed with wicked-looking daggers and spears. "What the heck are those things?" asked Kit.

"Zyglak," Hewkii answered.

Launched spears flew through the air, which Kit and the others were almost not successful in dodging. After summoning her new Inika armor suit, Kit fired a couple of energy balls. Both balls blew away a few of the advancing monsters, leaving the others surprised at the little one's power. "Just once—just once!—I'd like to take a trip-walk without someone trying to kill me!" Kongu shouted after narrowly avoiding a thrown dagger.

"I know what you mean, Kongu," Kit shouted back, almost not seeing the spear lunging down at her in time. Instinctively, she caught the weapon with her wrist-claws, but the Zyglak still fought to bear it down. Grimace changing into a sneer, Kit simply spread out her arms and the spear fell to the ground in pieces, courtesy of her claws. Taking advantage of the creature's surprise, Kit launched a kick, with her boot-claws extracted. The Zyglak cried out as the blades grazed the armor on its side. Angry and slightly bleeding, it attacked, only to have its knee knocked out from under it. Kit used its bent leg as a stool, jumped toward its backside, and, making sure the claws were retracted, spin-kicked it into the opposite wall. The Zyglak sank to the floor, out cold.

Kit wasn't given a chance to enjoy her victory though; she moved to avoid a spear, only to find a wall right behind her. Before she could rejoin the Toa, a dagger came at her and, not having the time to summon a shield, she shifted her head to the side. The blade sliced off a few threads of hair and she found herself facing a Zyglak up close. The creature sniffed and peered at the girl with a look that was starting to become all too familiar. 'Honestly, I'm starting to get really tired of this with the bad guys,' Kit said to herself. 'First the Morbuzakh, then the Piraka, now these Zy-whatchamacallums. What's next? Humanoid sea monsters?'

The Zyglak, meanwhile, admired the young human with evil curiosity. Not only was she powerful, but she was also a very skilled fighter; attributes it believed could be useful to it and its brethren. However, there was a problem: by fighting alongside the Toa, this being had proven that she was, somehow, associated with the Great Spirit—and the Zyglak hated anyone and anything that had that kind of connection with a vengeance. Therefore, that left only one alternative for the small one—death. The Zyglak grabbed hold of its spear, intending to skewer the girl, but it never got the chance. Before it knew what happened, it was blasted into the wall with a powered-up sucker punch, thanks to Kit.

Seeing Hahli having trouble, she went to go help the Water Toa. Kit frowned at her friend's wound, which was worse than she first thought, slipped an arm across her shoulders, and tried to support her as best as she could, considering Hahli was now a good two to three feet taller than her. "I hear water up ahead!" the Toa called to the others, and Kit helped her hobble down the passage with the other Toa Inika behind them. The group stopped in its tracks, however, when it rounded a bend.

Before them lay ocean water that flooded the rest of the tunnel. "Anybody have a Toa canister in their pack?" Hewkii asked. "I didn't think so. We might have stronger lungs than most, but that's a lot of water out there."

"And, that's a lot of Zyglak back there," Nuparu pointed out after another hail of spears sounded behind them. "Looks like the last one in the pool is skewered meat."

Suddenly, a tremor shook the tunnel so bad cracks formed; small pieces of stone fell all around, and the Zyglak halted their attack for the moment. Jaller urged the team to dive in the water, but Hewkii pointed out that, even with his swimming lessons with Macku, he was still not a powerful swimmer. When the tunnel's shaking grew worse, causing the Zyglak to retreat in fear, Kit asked, "Got any better ideas?" When none came, Jaller took a deep breath, dove into the water, and the others followed, even though some were a little reluctant about it.

Everyone followed Jaller's lit sword and, within minutes, they found themselves out in the open ocean. However, the light from Jaller's tool also revealed the source of the tremors—a giant creature that resembled either a giant eel or a sea serpent. Like a boa constrictor, it had wrapped itself around the stone cord that led back up to Voya Nui and was squeezing it with all of its might. Kit tried to gesture for the Toa of Fire to turn off his weapon, but it was too late—the monster had already spotted the light from his sword and was heading toward them.

The group had just prepared for battle, despite the fact that chances were they'd run out of air before long, when a sudden flash of white occurred. It seared their eyes, even as they were closed, and tore at their minds and bodies. The pain and shock of it all was so great, the Toa Inika and Kit couldn't help but scream. While this was happening, they all heard something they could only describe as a voice in their minds—the voice of the Mask of Life. It was calling for help. Jaller wondered to himself why the mask would ask for their help, yet attack them as well. Then, it was over, and the Toa and their human ally just floated idly in the eddies of the ocean, all as still as death itself. Therefore, whatever predator was nearby simply ignored them.

* * *

How much time had passed? Minutes? Hours? Days? He didn't know at the moment. Vision clearing and body aching, he groaned as he regained consciousness. "What happened?" said Matoro, realizing a moment later what he had done. "This is impossible," he said to himself. "I can breathe." That's when he noticed five others around him. Though their appearances, along with his, had changed, he recognized his friends. "Everyone, wake up," he said as he gently shook Hahli's shoulder.

The remaining Toa stirred awake and were just as or more surprised than Matoro to discover that they were breathing underwater. Almost immediately, Nuparu noticed one of their number was missing. "Where's Kit?"

The sound of bubbles being released caught Hahli's ear and she glanced up. Sure enough, there was the unconscious form of Kit, floating toward the surface. Without being told to do so, the Water Toa retrieved the girl, and at a speed so fast, she even surprised herself. It was then the source of Kit's rapid ascent was discovered—a tank of some kind was strapped to her back. "Kit, are you alright?" asked Hahli as she gently shook her.

To the Toa's relief, Kit stirred, "What happened?"

"That's what we'd like to know," Jaller replied.

"Um, Kongu," Hewkii said as he took a look around himself, "We're underwater, right?" When the Toa of Air replied an affirmative, the Stone Toa commented, "But, we're breathing . . . and talking . . . and I haven't sunk to the bottom yet."

"Not to mention you guys have got new masks and I've got a new suit," Kit added as she tried to admire her new armor suit.

It, too, was similar to the ones she had before except the claw apparatus' on her arms were gone. A helmet covered her head, where she could hear the soft sound of air pumping in and out. Feeling something else on her back, she reached behind her and found a pair of blue mechanical fins, much like the ones Hahli now had, and attached to her green boots, with matching thigh guards, were toe-like extensions with webbing in between, giving them a fin-like appearance. Considering it couldn't be seen anywhere else, Kit guessed the helmet was white. Curious, she mentally commanded the fin extensions on her boots to respond. To her and the Toa's amazement, the extensions folded the webbing into itself, making the boots actually look like boots. After glancing at her friends, she looked back down at her feet, mentally reflexed, and the extensions and webbing returned.

Her admiration was cut off, however, when she heard a sound behind her. It was the giant eel, which had regained consciousness and was heading right for them. After being told to by Jaller, Kongu tried to use his mask power to read the monster's mind. The next thing everyone knew, and to the Air Toa's surprise, hundreds of regular-sized eels came out of their hiding places. The sea Rahi charged as one toward the larger creature, only to be swallowed in the span of one gulp. Next Matoro tried his luck, only to discover that his mask had switched powers, too—and the raw power of electricity was missing from his elemental power.

Kit, meanwhile, watched on in worry as her friends tried to fend off the monster; if the Toa Inika didn't figure out what their new mask powers were, and fast, they were all going to wind up as fish food. Apparently ticked off now, the giant eel plowed through the group, scattering them. Kit just managed to regain her bearings when she spotted it moving in on Hahli and Nuparu, who got caught in its wake. "Oh, no you don't," she proclaimed, releasing a spirit burst at its head. The attack met its mark, stunning the eel for a moment. When it saw the smaller one was responsible, it changed direction, intending to swallow the girl whole. However, it soon noticed that it was getting harder and harder to swim and it felt heavier than normal. Finally, it became so heavy it sunk quickly to bottom of the sea, where the impact was great enough to render it unconscious.

Confused, Kit turned her attention to the approach of Hewkii, who was talking to Hahli, and smiled as she placed her hands on her hips. Though she couldn't hear him, his gesturing to his mask gave him away. "Hey, where'd Nuparu vanish-disappear to?" asked Kongu as he looked around. Hearing Matoro, they looked where he was pointing—Nuparu trying unsuccessfully to put some distance between him and what they guessed was the underwater city they heard about.

"That answer your question?" Kit asked, and she and the Toa of Air swam to join the others.

Although, unintentionally, Kit found herself shooting forward faster than she'd ever moved. The girl zoomed all over the place, not too much unlike her first flight with the rocket pack of her lost Metru armor suit, to the surprise of the resident Matoran. Jaller, meanwhile, took advantage of the confusion and fired flames at the launcher the Matoran were using. While Nuparu and Kit, who'd just managed to get her fins under control, rejoined their friends, Jaller noticed that the Matoran were getting another launcher ready.

"Hold it!" he called. "We're not here to fight you!"

"Got a funny way of showing it," said a Po-Matoran who gestured at the ruined launcher that was now nothing more than a pile of molten metal. "We know what you Pit types are like—bunch of liars and murderers. Well, you're not getting into Mahri Nui!"

Kit moved to the front of the group, beside Jaller. "Look pal, the only reason why he fried your little toy is because you weren't backing off long enough to give Nuparu a chance to tell you he was not a threat!"

The expressions on all of the Matorans masks changed into ones of confusion and wonder; a few even cautiously came closer to the edge of the bubble that housed their village to try to get a closer look.

"What's with them all of a sudden?" asked Nuparu.

"Well, weren't you the same way when you first met a human?" Hewkii retorted.

Matoro, however, shook his head and had his hand to his chin, "I think there's more to it than that."

The Po-Matoran, after carefully noting Kit's new armor suit, found his voice again and asked the girl, "You're an air-breather, aren't you?"

"Yes," she replied a little suspiciously.

"Then, why are you out there with them?"

"Because they're my friends, plus we're on a mission."

Hahli, then, decided to speak up, "We were told that there was a Matoran village down here that needed saving, and--"

"We can save ourselves," the Matoran cut her off.

"Uh huh, sure you can," Kit responded in a sarcastic tone.

The Po-Matoran gave her a momentary glare before continuing where he left off, "Next thing, you'll be telling me you're not from the Pit—that you're Toa, or some black water like that."

"Not this again," Kit groaned as she placed a hand to her forehead, remembering the recent events on Voya Nui.

"We are Toa," Nuparu said.

"Then where were you?" asked the Matoran, the pain and anger clearly evident in his voice. Kit admitted to herself that, for a minute back there, she was expecting to see tears streaming down his eyes. "Where were you when Mahri Nui sank? Where have you been all this time, when Barraki were picking us off one by one for the fun of it?"

If it weren't for the arrival of a Le-Matoran who appeared to be the leader, Kit would've bolted toward the Po-Matoran and 'had a few more words with him'. After the Matoran was led away by two others, the Le-Matoran turned to the group out in the water. "My name is Defilak. I am the leader of Mahri Nui's council for this span-time. What do you want here?"

Matoro moved to come closer, but was stopped by Kit, who gestured that she should go forward. Understanding the girl's reasoning—that the Matoran might feel a little more comfortable in the presence of one who didn't seem threatening—the Toa of Ice nodded and she approached Defilak. "I'm Kit," she introduced herself. "Those are Jaller, Hahli, Hewkii, Kongu, Matoro, and Nuparu. We're looking for a mask we lost and have reason to believe is in the vicinity."

"You're the second being to question-ask me about a mask in the last sun-day," Defilak responded, frowning. "The first followed up his question by slay-killing one of my friends, just to show-demonstrate that he could do it."

Kit's expression became sympathetic, "I'm sorry." Defilak then consented to let one of the group in the village and gave the rest a mission—protect the village and free a location known as the fields of air from dangerous Rahi. "Matoro," Kit called, "I think this is your department." The Ice Toa nodded in agreement, and he and the girl switched places. Moments later, Kit heard a gagging sound. She turned and found Matoro looking and sounding like he couldn't breathe. Defilak, thankfully, managed to push the Toa back out of the bubble and, after a few minutes, Matoro was back to normal.

Though she was still a fair distance away, Kit could just barely hear Defilak say, "You're a creature of the ocean-sea, Matoro. You should have realized-known you can't breathe air." Kit found herself as shocked as Matoro. She was about to move back toward the bubble, to offer to take his place, but the Ice Toa politely waved her off, indicating that he'd be fine.

With a reluctant nod, the girl left with the other Toa and told them what happened. As she swam, Kit observed the varied degrees of distress on her friends' masks and wondered to herself, 'If the Toa can no longer breathe air, how can they ever return to Metru Nui? Did the Mask of Life condemn them to a life under the sea? And, why was I spared the transformation?'


	2. Creeps from the Deep

It wasn't long before Kit and the remaining Toa found the fields of air. At first, the sea plants looked like they were alive until they noticed the keras crabs. "This shouldn't be too difficult," Hahli commented at the sight.

"Six of us against five thousand of them. I like your odds, Hahli," Kit replied sarcastically.

"By the way, what's with swim-fins?" asked Kongu. When Hahli and Kit gave him questioning looks, he elaborated, "You two have fins. They appear-look kind of like wings. And, you have a huge-big claw, Hahli."

"Have you looked at yourself lately?" asked the Toa of Water. "Or any of the others? We've all changed."

"I dodged the fins thing, though."

The comment earned Kongu a slight dead-arm from Kit. Then, Jaller remembered that he heard and felt the Mask of Life when they encountered the giant eel. "It must have done this to us so we could survive down here."

"Then, how come I only got a new armor suit and didn't change like you guys?" asked Kit.

While the others shrugged, unable to give her an answer, Nuparu offered a theory, "Maybe, for one reason or another, the mask decided you were better off with one." Everyone gave him odd looks. "Hey, it's the only thing I can come up with," Nuparu claimed.

"C'mon you guys, we've got a job to do," said Hewkii, pumped and ready for some action.

"Um, maybe we don't," said Nuparu. "Look."

Jaller summoned a flame for light and moved the range of its glow to where the Toa of Earth was pointing. What they saw was the keras crabs unexpectedly making their job easier by leaving the fields from which even the local Matoran couldn't chase them.

"We scared them off? They're running away?" asked Kit, perplexed.

"I don't think so," replied Jaller. "Looks more like a tactical move, as if they don't want to be too near us in case we prove too great a threat, yet they have no intention of giving up their territory without a fight either."

"Battle strategies, Jaller?"

"Believe me, Kit, I find this as difficult to believe with Rahi, especially of this species, as you do. But, I know a tactical move when I see one."

Just then, when the crabs stopped approximately twenty yards from the fields, Kit gasped in amazement when they were joined by schools of sharks, squid, venom eels, rays, and other Rahi of the deep, all just hovering with their eyes locked on the group. "I'm getting a really bad feeling about all this," Kit commented aloud, not at all liking the turn of events.

Hewkii turned to the Toa of Water, "Ok, Hahli, you're the one with water on the brain. Do sea Rahi like this normally act this way, or is it what it looks like—really creepy?"

Hahli shook her head and stated that the behavior wasn't normal at all. "It's almost like they're . . . waiting for something . . . or someone."

"And, so they are," a voice as cold as death said from behind them.

The heroes turned and found themselves face-to-face with six beings that appeared to have been mutated to the point that they resembled humanoid sea monsters. More predators of sea were gathered behind them. Kit tensed and narrowed her eyes at the six strangers; they were surrounded. One of the strange beings, one that reminded Kit of a praying mantis, came a little closer. While he spoke, she scanned the remaining five. Almost instantly, she noticed that, unlike their companion, the others seemed to resemble sea creatures—creatures that were also predators: a shark; a crab; a manta ray; an eel; and one with three eyes that seemed to resemble a squid. As the first being and another, the crab-like one, conversed with each other, Kit noticed that the green one had his eyes locked on her. She could see the malice and hatred in his eyes as clear as day; she felt like he was trying to dissect her with them to find out what she was. Suddenly, his eyes widened with realization. "That one!" he roared as he pointed at Kit. "It's an airbreather." The spines on his back began to crackle with electricity as he prepared to attack. Taken totally by surprise, Kit didn't have time to react. However, the white one, the shark, back-handed his comrade, causing his shot to go completely off. The green one was about to say something, but the white one, who appeared to be the leader, ordered him and the others to be silent. The green one reluctantly conceded, and the white one eyed the group.

"I am Pridak. We are the Barraki, and this is our realm. Tell us why you are here, and perhaps you will live to see another tide."

As the praying mantis-like being spoke again, Kit noticed a familiar look in the others' eyes that was mixed with the hatred—an evil kind of curiosity. 'I had to ask,' she thought to herself as she remembered what she thought of back at the fight with the Zyglak.

"Answer," Pridak demanded, snapping the girl out of her thoughts. "What did you do to be exiled here, and what is that little one with you?"

"Exiled?" said Hewkii, confused. "We're not--"

"—In the habit of explaining ourselves to every bait fish that comes along," interrupted Hahli, surprising Kit and her friends quite a bit. "By what right do you and your pathetic schools of minnows interfere with us?"

The red one, with a look of outrage at such insolence, rushed forward proclaiming, "By right of conquest!" It reached out with its tentacle toward Hahli. Kit was about to defend her friend, only to find out the Toa of Water didn't really need her, or anyone's, help.

The Water Toa grabbed hold of the limb, yanked hard, thus pulling Kalmah off his feet, and slammed him in the face with a palm-heel. While the Barraki stammered and cursed, Hahli simply tossed the tentacle away, as if it were a piece of debris. "Go, Hahli," Kit said quietly with an approving smile and cocked eyebrow.

The talking continued, then Pridak revealed the Mask of Life that he kept hidden behind his back. When Hahli asked him if he was worried about its curse, the Barraki leader replied with a roar. "Look at me . . . look at where I dwell . . . look at my companions, once rulers, now monstrosities, and tell me—how much more cursed could we be?" Kit thought about saying something along the line that they could be even worse off than they already were—she had the feeling that what they suffered prior to the arrival of the mask was a cake walk compared to what the mask could make them suffer—but thought better of it; she had every intention of keeping all of her limbs intact.

"Relax, Pridak," the blue one said in a smooth, calming tone. "Stay in control."

The crab-like one eyed the group and said to his comrade, "I thought you said there were seven of them. I only count six." After Hahli gave Carapar a hard time, Pridak gave the order that the heroes were to accompany them, noting that they might prove useful later.

Kit noticed that the red one moved closer to Pridak and, unknown to them, just barely heard him whisper, "As allies?"

Pridak shook his head and replied with an evil sneer, "It's always best, when traveling, to make sure you bring lunch along."

The girl worked hard to suppress a gulp. As Kalmah, Carapar, and Ehlek moved behind them, Kit tried to take in every possible anatomical detail of the Barraki in an attempt to figure out weak points. When she was satisfied with what she could determine, she joined Jaller, who was talking to Hahli. "So. When did you become 'Hahli the Barbarian'?" the Toa of Fire asked softly.

"Trust me, I know what I'm doing," Hahli replied. Then, with a smile, she added, "Besides, it's sort of fun."

"Where did you learn to fight like that, anyway?" Kit asked.

"Simple," the Water Toa turned and answered with the same smile, "from watching you."

Kit couldn't help but smile bashfully and blush.

* * *

Soon after, Kit and the Toa found themselves in a desolate area where Pridak 'invited' them to pick a cave as their own.

"So, we're your prisoners now?" asked Hewkii.

"Never," the Barraki leader replied with a poor attempt for a friendly smile, "you're merely guests."

"Then, why the guard dogs?" Kit inquired with suspicion, gesturing with her thumb toward the Rahi that were starting to take posts outside the caves after their occupants entered.

"For your protection, of course," Pridak answered. "The sea can be a dangerous place."

Kit nodded and entered her chosen cave. A school of electric eels placed itself at the only entrance/exit. 'Does he really think we're _that_ dense?' she thought to herself; it was obvious, even to the Toa, that she and the others were not meant to be going anywhere. 'I hope Matoro's having better luck than we are.' As he and his companions left, Pridak remembered the unconvinced look on the small one's face when he told her the reason for the Rahi. He made a mental note to keep an eye on her.

* * *

After what felt like hours, Kit believed she had her new suit figured out and decided it was time to make a break for it. The eels immediately reacted when she moved toward the mouth of the cave, preparing to attack. "Sorry, boys," Kit smirked. She raised her hands and said, "I'm checking out," and unleashed twin energy balls. The eels, knocked senseless, just drifted aimlessly in the water. Kit hadn't swum that far from her cave when she heard Jaller and Kongu's voices. Her investigation led her to a disturbing scene—Kongu was spasming on the sea floor with a small squid attached to his back.

Without a second thought, she bolted toward him. "Kit, look out!" Jaller cried, but it was too late. Another squid suddenly appeared and latched itself onto the back of Kit's shoulder. Almost immediately, she too went into spasms and fell to her knees as she felt her energy being sucked out of her. Before Jaller could help his friends, he found himself first having to take care of another squid that was launched at him, then about to be torn in half by Kalmah and Carapar. Seeing what was happening, Kit reached behind and tried to summon all of the strength she had left to rip the creature off of her. But, it was no use, the squid was securely grafted on. The girl then stretched out her hand and tried tomuster an energy attack, any energy attack, but her palm only glowed faintly before giving out.

Just when Kongu thought there was nothing that could be done, he felt something jump onto his back. It was the hahnah crab that was attracted earlier by Jaller's light, and it was tearing apart the squid attached to him. Once the squid released its hold, the Toa of Air felt strength coming back to him and the crab moved on to help Kit. However, Kongu's strength wasn't coming back fast enough, which, begrudgingly, meant there was only one thing left to do—use his new mask power. After a few tries earlier, Kongu now knew his mask's power was to summon animals to his aid. Although, he soon decided he wasn't very comfortable about it since everything he'd summoned thus far was worse or more bizarre than the last. Therefore, as he triggered his mask power he shut his eyes, not having any desire of seeing what the mask called this time. But, it didn't help; he could still feel pounding under his feet, like something burrowing, and hear the ground being torn along with Barraki's startled curses and the hahnah crab's panicked screech. A powerful undersea wave sent Kongu tumbling through the water, but he managed to right himself. When he finally opened his eyes, he saw a grotesque sight.

It was a two hundred foot high sea creature that looked like a cross between a whale and the giant clawed slime-worms of Onu-Koro—and it was not in a good mood. After a brief moment's hesitation, Kalmah threw Jaller toward the Rahi in hope of distracting it and Kongu while he and his partner made their getaway. It worked. After quickly grabbing hold of a semi-conscious Kit, the Air Toa swam as fast as he could toward Jaller. The Rahi, however, batted Jaller away, and the three of them slammed into the sea floor below, groaning.

"Kit, you ok?" asked Jaller, seeing that the girl was starting to come around.

"I think so," Kit answered, feeling her energy coming back. "What is that thing?" she asked when she spotted the creature.

"Where did it come from?" Jaller asked.

"Well, I told you I didn't want to use the mask," said Kongu.

When Kit gave the green Toa an odd look, Jaller explained, "Long story. C'mon let's get back to the city."

* * *

They were halfway back to Mahri Nui when they heard a voice calling to them. It was Hahli with Hewkii and Nuparu.

"Nice to see that you guys managed to get away alright," Kit commented.

"Any sign of the mask or any of the Barraki?" asked Jaller.

The Toa of Water, Stone, and Earth shook their heads. "What've you two got there?" Kongu asked, pointing to some multibarreled weapons Hewkii and Nuparu were carrying.

"I found a cavern filled with these things," Nuparu replied with excitement. "I swear, I could've studied these all day."

"And, he would've," Hahli spoke up, "if Hewkii hadn't dragged him out."

Kit sniggered at the thought. The Toa of Earth pointed to some writing on the side of one of the weapons, "According to this, they're called 'Cordak revolving blaster's." The remaining Toas' eyes widened.

Kit noticed, "What's the matter?"

"'Cordak' is a Matoran word that means 'desolation'," Jaller answered.

The girl's eyes also widened, "No guess as to what they were made for."

"All the same, I thought they might come in handy," said Nuparu. As in agreement, the others each claimed a blaster.

All that is, except Kit, who declined, "No offense, but I'm not too hot on guns."

Hahli looked to Jaller, who merely shrugged. When Kongu picked two, he simply explained, "Two hands." Kit rolled her eyes with a smile.

"Alright, let's move," said Jaller, and they continued on to Mahri Nui.

* * *

When they arrived at the under-sea city, they were expecting to find Matoro waiting. However, they were instead greeted by a hail of air bubbles. "Turn back!" they heard Defilak call. "We have no desire-need for ever-friends of the Barraki here!"

Kit groaned, "I swear, why do these guys have to always assume the worst? And, where in the world did they get the idea that we're 'friends' with the Barraki?"

"We don't have time for this," said Jaller, and he began voicing out his plan to pacify the villagers. But, Hahli interrupted him with a plan of her own, and convinced Kongu to use his air power to push Defilak out of the air bubble that housed the structure.

The Air Toa did so and, the next thing the Le-Matoran knew, he was in the water and trapped in a whirlpool Hahli made. The whirlpool disintegrated the Matoran's air bubble, leaving nothing but the air in his lungs. Just when Defilak was sure he was done for, the Water Toa reached in and threw him back into the air bubble. "You see?" she asked. "If I wanted you dead, you would be. I don't, and neither do my friends. We'd like to help, if you'd just stop shooting at us long enough to do it."

"Why should I faith-trust you?" asked Defilak. "Nothing in the Pit can be trusted."

"Because we're not from the Pit," Kit retorted. "We came from the surface and the Toa were changed so they could survive underwater. Plus, we also happen to be enemies of Barraki, just like you."

The Le-Matoran folded his arms across his chest.

"Not according to what I report-heard. A true-friend of mine told me she spot-saw you swimming with the Barraki as if you were allies."

"Did she happen to mention the hundreds of Rahi that they were using to herd us along? Rahi that were perfectly capable of killing us in some form or fashion? Didn't it ever occur to you that with us six against hundreds of them, we didn't really have a choice but to follow them?"

Defilak remained silent as his expression fell.

"I thought not," Kit replied.

"Take it easy, kiddo," said Hahli as she placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. Kit backed off a bit and the Toa of Water took over. "Kit's right. I'm not of the Pit. I am of the sea—it belongs to me, not to the Barraki or their servants. And, through me, the sea belongs to you, too."

Defilak looked into both Hahli's and Kit's eyes. Both seemed sincere enough. He not only knew he had to make a choice, but whatever he decided would change Mahri Nui's future, good or bad. Finally, he reached a decision. "Very well. We will lower our weapons . . . for now. But, how will you help us?"

"The Barraki have something that belongs to us," spoke Jaller.

"We're going to get it back," Kit continued with a small mischievous smile.

"And, they're going to resist . . . which is just too bad for them," Hewkii concluded. "Give us a hand, and maybe you'll have six less Barraki to worry about."

Remembering their Voya Nui Matoran allies, Hahli added, "Once that's done . . . there are some other friends you might want to meet. I know they will want to meet you."

Defilak paused for a moment, as if touched by how these Toa and their human friend were going to do everything in their power to protect his city and Hahli's gentle tone. "If you are what you say you are, we have much to talk-discuss. But first, we will need to seek-find your other friend-companion." Seeing the questioning look on Kit's face, the Le-Matoran informed them of Matoro's flight when word reached him of their earlier, and believed-to-be-friendly, departure with the Barraki. The Toa of Ice went into the darker area of the water and hadn't been seen since. "With luck, perhaps-maybe there is still a body left to recover."

For a brief moment, all Kit could think of was disbelief. Then, a voice called out. It was Matoro, alive, in one piece, and accompanied by a red mechanical being with a white creature that could only be described as a canine of some sort. "Welcome back," Jaller greeted.

"Who's your friend?" asked Hewkii.

Matoro hesitated for a moment, sharing a quick glance with the robot, then answered in a chilly tone, "Maxilos, and the Rahi's Spinax. He freed me after someone called Hydraxon locked me up."

Kit and the Toa noticed the Ice Toa's tone had slightly changed, but decided inquiring about it would have to wait. They had a mask to find, an ocean to search, and little time. "Perhaps a more timely strategy in locating the mask would be to split up into teams," Maxilos suggested. "That way our chances of finding it are increased."

"I don't know," Hewkii admitted nervously. "Those Barraki are still out there and who knows what else."

"I'll admit, I don't really like the idea any more than you do, Hewkii," said Kit, "but, with how things are, I don't think we really have a choice."

"I agree," said Jaller, "but none of us will be going alone. I'll go with Kit and Kongu, Hewkii you go with Nuparu, and Hahli with Matoro and Maxilos."

"That's alright, Jaller, I can move faster on my own," the Water Toa declined. "Besides, I'm more at home here than any of you."

"Just don't come whining to us if you get in trouble," Kit mockingly warned.

Hahli chuckled, "Wouldn't dream of it."

As the group double-checked their weapons and made sure they were as ready as they could possibly be, Defilak approached. "Maybe-perhaps living so long in this night-black water has made us see only black-darkness in others. If you are truly about to confront-face great trouble-danger on behalf of Mahri Nui . . . we would be proud-honored to call you Toa Mahri."

The Toa looked to each other, thinking about how they were Matoran themselves until recently and how they met the Toa Nuva and Kit and their rewarded faith and trust in their guardians and Protector. After receiving a nod from their human friend, Matoro voiced their feelings, "The honor is ours, Defilak. We'll try to prove worthy of your trust."

Just then, Kit saw a gleam in Maxilos' eye—a gleam that inexplicably made the hairs on her back bristle, a gleam that somehow seemed familiar . . . and evil. 'But, that's not possible, is it?' she thought to herself. Then, Jaller gave the word that it was time to split up and search. Before departing, Kit managed to grab Matoro. "Matoro, is everything ok?" she asked, the look in Maxilos' eyes now making her suspicious about his unusually icy attitude when introducing the robot.

After glancing toward Maxilos, the Toa of Ice replied, "Yes, Kit. Everything's alright, like it was when you went into this world's past."

Before Kit could say anything, the Ice Toa left with the robot and energy hound. 'What does he mean?' the girl wondered. 'Not everything was alright when I went into the past. I had temporary amnesia for most of the time.' Shrugging it off, she swam after Jaller and Kongu.


	3. A Little Complicated

They'd been searching for what must've been a few hours, and neither human or Toa could find any sign of any Kanohi mask that matched the Ignika's description. "I hope the others are having better luck than we are," Kit said to herself.

Everything had been so quiet for so long, Kit's heart gave a little jump when Jaller said, "Alright, say it."

"Say what?" asked Kongu.

"You know what. Some tree-speak complaint about being cold and wet, bumping your head on cave ceilings, and already being tired of smelling like fish. Just say it and get it over with so we can get back to searching."

"No, I don't believe-think I will."

"Why not?"

"I don't have to," Kongu answered with a grin and shrug. "You already spoke-said it." Kit, unable to contain herself, burst out laughing. With a smile at the girl, Kongu continued, "By the way, is this cave four hundred or five hundred? I lost count." Rolling his eyes, Jaller sighed.

"Do you ever stop joking?" he asked. "You didn't act like this when you commanded the Gukko force in Le-Koro, did you?"

Kongu simply shrugged. "I wasn't one of seven hero-guardians deciding the fate of the realm-universe then, either. Sure, I was grim-serious a lot of the time running the force—but Toa Lewa taught me that sometimes a little laugh-humor helps everyone relax and keep things in perspective." After a brief pause, the Toa of Air added with a smile, "Besides, Jaller, between you and Hewkii, 'grim and serious' is already covered on this group-team." With that, Kongu swam into the cavern.

"He's got a point, you know," Kit pointed out to the Fire Toa, and Jaller nodded.

The two swam in after Kongu. As he kept his eyes open, Jaller admitted to himself that the Air Toa had another good point. Hours had passed since they started searching, and there had been no sign of the Kanohi Ignika. It was starting to look like Kit was right, that the Barraki had hidden it somewhere more elusive than a mere cave. But the Toa of Fire, to quote his human friend, wanted to 'leave no stone unturned', which meant they had to search every possible place they could think of. 'Searching every nook and cranny' he remembered her saying once.

"Hey," called Kongu, bringing Jaller out of his reverie. "What are those?"

Looking to their right, Kit and Jaller found white spheres lined up against the base of the cave wall. Curious, Kit moved in to get a better look. Gently touching one, she found their texture to be smooth and they looked so fragile. Considering how they were stacked on top of each other, she was amazed they didn't break.

"What are they?" asked Kongu.

"I think they're some kind of egg," Kit answered. Suddenly, she felt something happen inside and she retracted her hand as if it had been bitten. "There's something alive in there," she announced.

Jaller looked at the egg quizzically, "Are you sure?"

"Positive," Kit confirmed, "I felt it move."

"There are more back there, and the shells are break-cracking," said Kongu, pointing toward the cavern entrance behind them. "Could this be some kind of home-nest for really short Bohrok?"

"Or that thing that attacked you and Kit before," said Jaller.

Kit gazed back at the egg with a sense of foreboding; as much as she wanted to hope otherwise, she now had a terrible feeling that Jaller may be right. Brandishing his sword and blaster, the Fire Toa said to his companions, "Be prepared for anything."

"Oh, I could ready-prepare a lot better from outside," replied Kongu, "way outside, even."

"You and me both," Kit agreed.

The shells of the eggs cracked open and small tentacles, all in different colors, slithered their way out. The cylinder-like bodies and heads of a squid, the same squid that _did_ attack Kit and Kongu, appeared, their cold eyes observing the Toa and teenager. Suddenly, without warning, dozens of the sea Rahi attacked, latching themselves onto the two Toa before they could even react. Kit managed to down a few before she, too, became overwhelmed. Within moments, all three could feel their life force being drained away. Hearing something, Kit and Jaller lifted their heads to find Kalmah and Carapar standing at the cave's mouth. "Feed, my little ones," Kalmah encouraged with a wicked smile. "But, leave something for your master as well."

Minutes passed, and the trio were beginning to fade. Deciding to take a risky and desperate gamble, Jaller reached out both hands and grabbed hold of Kongu and Kit. Air Toa and girl cried out when they felt a momentary blast of searing heat go through them. The Toa of Fire's plan worked, though; the squid, shrieking in pain, let go and fled.

As she and the Toa staggered to their feet, Kit growled, "You guys call yourselves warlords, and yet you hide behind other creatures to do your fighting for you?" A brief pause followed as the girl fought to catch her breath. "Pathetic," she said with narrowed eyes and a disgusted tone. Both Barraki snarled—how dare the small one insult them with such impudence?—and Carapar would've moved in to tear her head off if Kalmah hadn't stopped him. "As far as I'm concerned, you're not warlords . . . you're cowards," Kit continued. "Warlords actually participate in the fighting and killing—they live for it—, not hide behind their armies like a bunch of cowards."

"We are also smart enough to tell when an enemy is trying to bait us," Kalmah countered. "In our time, entire nations bowed before us . . . cities fell . . . armies were destroyed. Do you really think a group of condemned Toa and their air-breathing, fleshing pet will prove more than a moment's annoyance?"

"Come in here and I'll show you . . . that is, if you think you've got the guts," Kit dared as she warmed up her fists.

"Not here, not now, Kit," Jaller chided gently as he placed a firm grip on her shoulder, and he approached the Barraki, not showing any sign of his exhaustion. "We weren't condemned here. You Barraki got it wrong."

"Why else would you be here?" demanded Carapar. "Nobody comes here unless they have to."

'He just answered his own question,' Kit thought smugly.

Jaller explained where they originated and their mission to retrieve the Mask of Life. Kit was shocked when the Fire Toa offered to help the Barraki find a way back to the surface in exchange for helping them find the legendary Kanohi. Before she could say anything, Kalmah let out an evil laugh.

"Escape to where? Look at us, Toa—we've been changed by this place. We can no longer live on the surface, and neither can you."

"But, the mask can change that—that's what you think, isn't it? That's why you want it. We can make a deal . . . or we can fight, and risk the mask getting destroyed in the battle."

While the guys talked, it occurred to Kit that she never really gave it much thought as to why the Barraki coveted the Kanohi Ignika so badly. Now, thanks to Jaller, she knew why. They wanted to reclaim their empires, but couldn't hope to do so the way they were, and they believed that they could use the power of the Mask of Life to return themselves to their original forms. Just then, Kalmah's voice brought her back to reality. "If we aid you now, it means going up against our allies . . . What do you have to offer that is worth that?"

For a moment, there was silence.

Then Jaller answered, "When the Mask of Life is back in our hands, Barraki, we'll make sure you get all you have earned and everything you deserve. Oppose us—and I swear to you by Mata Nui, we will destroy the mask before you ever get your claws on it." The Toa of Fire peered at Kit with a straight, no-nonsense look on his mask, who was giving him a perplexed expression. To the Barraki, it appeared as if the Toa was telling the girl to be quiet, that there was no discussing the matter. However, on her end, Kit knew Jaller, and thus knew better. His eyes showed the message loud and clear—this was all part of the plan to get the Barraki fighting against each other.

The three of them waited tensely for the answer. Like Kit, Jaller didn't believe, even for an instant, that the Barraki would honor any deal they offered, but it was the only thing he could think of to get him, Kongu, and Kit out of there alive and in one piece. He could worry about the betrayal, which he was sure was bound to happen, later. "Your offer is intriguing, but promises and vows mean nothing beneath the waves," Kalmah finally said. "Even if we agreed, Pridak would never go along with aiding Toa. So, you are going to do a favor for us in return for our assistance."

"What sort of favor?" Jaller inquired.

Kalmah's voice gave off an aura of ultimate treachery and hate. "Kill Pridak. Then, we'll talk."

* * *

The three of them swam their way back toward Mahri Nui. Neither had spoken a word since their encounter with the Barraki. Finally, Kongu decided he couldn't take it anymore, "How?"

"'How' what?" asked Jaller.

"How are we going to do deal with shark breath without break-violating the code?"

"That part I haven't figured out yet, short of somehow making them think we did."

"What are you guys talking about?" asked Kit. "What's this about a 'code'?"

"As far back as anyone can remember, Toa always followed a sacred code where they never killed their enemies," Jaller explained.

"And, now, unless we can somehow wriggle-worm our way out of this problem-mess, it looks like we'll have no choice but to be label-marked as ex-Toa," Kongu commented.

"It was the only thing I could think to get us all out of there alive," Jaller defended.

Before the argument could escalate any further, Kit said, "Leave it to me, then."

The Toa of Fire and Air looked at her as if she had just turned into a venom eel. "Are you sure, Kit?" Jaller asked a little uncertainly.

"Moralistically, no," Kit replied, "but, for scum like them, I can make an exception. Besides, I have killed before, and under mitigating circumstances."

Jaller admitted to himself that he had completely forgotten about Darcius. The girl winked at her two friends and swam a little ahead of them. Kongu, meanwhile, nudged the Fire Toa and whispered, "Remind me not-never to get on her bad side."

* * *

Soon after, Kit, Jaller, and Kongu arrived back at Mahri Nui to find their friends there and the city on full alert.

"What's going on? Where's Hahli?" asked Kit, noticing that the Toa Mahri of Water was absent.

"Still no word from her and, to quote the local Matoran aqua hunters, word has it that the sea's gone mad," said Hewkii. "Shark's are at war with eels, keras crabs and squid have mysteriously vanished, and there are unconfirmed reports of rays attacking anything that moves."

"On top of that," added Nuparu, "anything, or anyone, unlucky enough to get in between those beasts is killed, but ignored afterward." Before Kit could respond, she heard a voice.

It was Defilak. "What have you done?" the Le-Matoran demanded, informing the group that in the past six hours two Matoran herders and half a dozen of the city's hydruka were lost. "The fight-battles come closer to the edge-borders of Mahri Nui every moment. Is this how you defend-protect us?"

Kit thought about telling the Matoran leader that if he had a problem with their plan he should've said something sooner, but, for some reason, kept quiet. "Well, turning them against each other sounded like a good idea, at the time," confessed Hewkii with a shrug.

"Yeah," Kit agreed once she refound her voice, "though who knew they would turn out to be so good at it."

"It was a good idea," Jaller reassured them. "Remember, we still need to find the mask. If the Barraki's armies tear each other apart, that buys us more time to search."

"Not to mention it also decreases their numbers," Kit added.

Kongu looked down at his hands, as if they were tainted somehow, and asked, "Is this what we've become? Sacrificing Matoran and Rahi lives just so we can quick-finish our mission? Hahli could be cold-dead, for all we know, and all you care about--"

"Don't, just . . . don't," Matoro interrupted.

Kit never thought of it that way, but, thinking back on what Defilak said, she realized Kongu had a point. She couldn't help but feel both a little ashamed at what had happened and relieved that she bit back her tongue earlier. "If we fail at this, there won't be any more Matoran, or Rahi, or Hahli . . . or any of us," Matoro continued. "None of us are happy about what's been done, but I think we are going to have to do far worse before this is over."

She didn't know about the other Toa, but Kit noticed how the Ice Toa glanced at Maxilos and made a mental note to ask him about it later, preferably when the robot wasn't around. 'If I didn't know any better,' she thought to herself, 'I'd say there's something going on between those two, and it's nothing good.'

Just then, a Ga-Matoran swam over and said something softly to Defilak. The Matoran leader nodded and faced the Toa. "It's now a true-fact. The rays are on the move, heading straight for Mahri Nui. And, they are being command-led by your Toa Hahli."

"Perfect," was Jaller's reply, receiving a confused expression from Defilak.

"It's all part of the plan," Kit elaborated.

* * *

Soon after, the group was spread out among the reef, their eyes locked on the forms of Matoro and Maxilos. Kit noticed that they were talking, but couldn't hear what they were saying. She was about to try to sneak closer to find out what was going on—she had been getting a bad feeling about the crimson robot ever since Matoro mentioned her trip into this realm's past—when her sensors detected something.

Carefully, she swam to Jaller and told him she was going to investigate. "What about Hahli?" asked the Fire Toa.

"Jaller, my scanner wouldn't alert me of something without being prompted first unless it was important," the girl replied.

As much as Jaller wanted to protest further, he understood the meaning in Kit's tone. There was the possibility that what her scanners detected was the Mask of Life. "Alright, but take Hewkii with you, just in case," said the Toa of Fire.

Kit, however, shook her head. "You need as many hands here as you can get, besides I can travel faster on my own. If I find anything, I'll send you a signal." Jaller called to her, but, in a flash, she was gone.

* * *

Within minutes, Kit's scanner showed her she was just yards away from the mask's location. But, it also showed two dots that were identified as other beings and she slowed down her approach. She cautiously got closer until she found a position behind some rocks where she could see who or whatever was ahead, but not be seen herself. Her eyes widened in surprise. She was expecting the two others to be two of the Barraki, instead, one looked like a combination of a starfish and something else she couldn't even describe and the other was humanoid—and was pointing a Cordak blaster right at the Kanohi Ignika on the seabed.

* * *

Hydraxon easily had the mask in his sights. He could sense the power this strange Kanohi held and knew what such power could be capable of in the wrong hands. Better to destroy it to avoid that ever happening. His finger was just starting to pull the trigger when he heard a shout, "No!" Diverting his attention from the mask, the next thing he knew, he was rammed hard and hit the ground with such force, he left a trench in his wake. After shaking his head, he looked to discover his attacker. It was some kind organic being wearing strange, multi-colored armor. "Are you crazy!?" Kit shrieked in disbelief; did this guy have a death-wish, or something?

Hydraxon simply redrew his weapon. "Surrender, runner," he replied with cold eyes.

Kit flinched for a second, but kept her ground, "Sorry, pal, 'surrender''s not in my vocabulary."

Hydraxon fired his blaster, and, with a flap of her fins, Kit surged upward. Almost too late, she saw the daggers coming at her and summoned her shield. "So you want to play dirty, huh?" she said. "Well, then . . ." Moving fast, Kit dove while firing energy balls. Hydraxon dodged, unaware he was doing exactly as his opponent wanted him to do. A blade, his own blade, flew toward him, nicking his shoulder. By the time he saw Kit coming at him, there was nothing for him to do but take the hit. The girl kneed him so hard in the abdomen, he wheezed harshly. "I can play dirtier," she said in a low, dangerous tone. Flipping over, Kit went to her position between Hydraxon and the mask and fired an energy beam.

* * *

Back at his position, Jaller saw the beam, "That must be Kit's signal." He, in turn, signaled to Hahli, who gestured that she saw and moved in Kit's direction.

* * *

Meanwhile, Kit was doing all she could to keep Hydraxon away from the mask without touching it and keeping from being killed herself. At one point, the jailer managed to get hold of his Cordak blaster and fired. Kit, however managed to dodge, though not far enough to avoid the force of the blast. Seeing his chance while the girl was stunned, the jailer again aimed his weapon at the mask and fired. Just when it looked like it was all over, a strong current caught the rocket and sent it off course, away from its target. Then, another current hit Hydraxon, carrying him a good distance away from the Kanohi. "Back off!" Hahli shouted, followed by the rays and Mantax. "Keep away from that mask!"

Hydraxon released a barrage of rockets. "Look out!" shouted Kit, but it was already too late. The rockets exploded, stunning the Toa and Barraki. Kit, however, just managed to get away. Seeing something out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Hydraxon making another grab for the Kanohi Ignika. Growling in determination, she zoomed in on him.

The jailer saw her coming and released an onslaught of bladed weapons at her, but at the last possible moment, and to both of their amazement, she avoided every single one. Hydraxon couldn't keep track of the girl's rapid movements and was again thrown to the ground. When he looked up, he saw Kit was preparing another one of her energy attacks. Moving quickly, he got out of the way and launched another rocket from his Cordak blaster. Instinctively, Kit summoned her shield and was knocked away with a yelp. Hydraxon panted, looked behind him to find a small crater, and found himself a little thankful it wasn't him that got hit. Once more, he reached for the mask; he was going to have to find some other place to destroy this thing, somewhere where he wouldn't be interrupted. However, before he could grab it, a claw pinned his wrist to the sea floor. It was the Toa of Water from earlier and she was reaching for the mask. The jailer tried to aim his blaster at the mask again, but Hahli knocked it off target. The rocket exploded just feet away from the Kanohi Ignika. On one hand, the mask was still intact, on the other, the force of the hit sent it spiraling into Mantax's claws.

As one, Kit, Hahli, and Hydraxon moved in on the Barraki. However, as they came in closer, they all felt something was wrong. They all began to feel weak, like their strength was being drained out of them. Soon, they became so tired they couldn't swim any further and sank to the bottom. Kit could barely lift her hand off the ground. For a brief moment, she wondered if this was the work of Kalmah's squids. 'No, it's not the squids,' she said to herself. 'For one thing, Hahli and that numbskull are affected, too, and they don't have any squids on them. Plus, this feels different; this just feels like I ran a marathon.' The girl also noted, once she somehow managed to lift her head, that Mantax seemed stronger. Her eyes widened in realization and dread, 'It's the mask! It's made him into an 'energy' vampire; if anyone or anything gets too close to him, their energy gets drained and added to his own.' She was sure the Barraki was going to take the opportunity to kill the whole lot of them, but, to her surprise, he just admired the mask for a moment before turning his attention to them. He told them to tell the other Barraki to meet at a location he called the Razor Whale's Teeth in one day—no weapons or armies—where he would state his demands. He closed with the threat that if anybody tried anything he would destroy the mask.

Hydraxon, however, snarled, "I don't make deals with runners. You want to shatter that headgear? Go ahead."

"Shut up!" Hahli and Kit said in a tone that indicated even to the jailer that it would not be a good idea to cross either one.

"We need that mask. The universe needs that mask. Try anything, and I will personally show you the meaning of 'dead in the water'," Hahli warned.

"Just be sure you leave some of him for me, Hahli," Kit called to her as best as she could, considering how exhausted she felt, as she glared at him. And with that, Mantax and his rays took their leave.

Once he was gone, the trio began to feel their strength coming back to them. Kit noticed that the starfish-hybrid was gone. Hydraxon whirled at Hahli and Kit. "Now see what your interference has done! A few seconds more and that mask would've been dust. Now, it's in the hands of the Barraki."

"A few seconds more and everything and everyone in this universe, including you, would've been dust, you idiotic, dribbling dirtbucket!" Kit snapped back.

Though both Hahli and Hydraxon were silently surprised at the anger in the girl's voice, the Water Toa recovered faster than the jailer. "Who in the blazes are you, anyway?"

"Who I am is _my_ business," Hydraxon retorted. "Staying out of my way is _yours_."

Something about the guy nagged at something in Hahli's mind. Then, she realized why—he matched the description of someone she heard of recently. "You're Hydraxon, aren't you?" she asked.

For a brief moment, there was surprise in the jailer's eyes, "How did you know?"

"So, you're the guy who locked up Matoro," said Kit. "Guess I should've throttled you harder, but I'll tell you what: we'll stay out of your way if you stay out of ours, which means that mask is off limits, and that includes your blaster as well as your blades."

Inside, Hydraxon couldn't help but admire the little one's spirit, even for a little bit. It was then he realized something strange. This creature didn't look anything like any of the prisoners he remembered. On top of that, now that he was getting a good look at her, he noticed through her visor that her physiology was organic. He could also hear the faint sound of air being pumped into her helmet. She could breathe air, thus was definitely not from the Pit—she wasn't a runner at all. In response to Kit's comment, he snorted derisively and turned to go on his way. "Hey, big guy," he heard Kit call to him. Against his better judgment, Hydraxon began to look over his shoulder, only to cry out in pain as his Cordak blaster was blasted out of his hand. He looked back to find Kit with a yellowish-gold glow dimming in her outstretched palm and eyes narrowed. "Try that stunt again and I'll just aim lower . . . for your wrist," she growled. Hydraxon just picked up his blaster, but stowed away his experience with the small one and her warning—he had every intention of keeping _both_ of his hands.

The jailer had swum no more than three strokes when Hahli called to him. "Where are you going?"

"After that Barraki," Hydraxon simply said.

"But, he went the other way," Kit gestured with her thumb in the opposite direction.

"I know," Hydraxon replied, and continued on his way.

"Hold on," Hahli called again, "why don't we work _with_ each other instead of against each other? I'll admit, you're good, but you can't take on all of the Barraki and their Rahi armies by yourself."

"You two will only get in my way, and I've handled worse," was Hydraxon's answer.

'The feeling's mutual, pal,' Kit thought to herself.

Hahli tried one more time to convince Hydraxon to join forces, but the jailer still declined. Then, deciding to go to Plan B, the Water Toa summoned a riptide that threw Hydraxon back toward her. Kit, however, noticed what the jailer was doing as he tumbled on the ocean floor. "Hahli! Mo--" she called, but was cut off as the blast struck a few yards away from their position. Toa and girl were hurled through the water and crashed against the ground with such force, they were knocked out. Meanwhile, Hydraxon regarded the fallen forms with annoyance as he stowed away his blaster and disappeared into the shadowy waters.


	4. The Cord

Author's Note: A special thank you to Zim'sMostLoyalServant and Stargirl411 for their reviews. I was beginning to think I was going to have to start begging for some insight (which, personally, I'd rather not do).

* * *

"Hahli? Hahli, wake up." The Toa of Water opened her eyes to find Kit kneeling over her. With the girl's help, she managed to shakily get to her feet. Both were sore and their armor sustained some damage from the blast, but otherwise they were fine. "Just one question," said Kit.

"What?" asked Hahli.

"Where in the world did you get the idea to invite that trigger-happy creep to join up with us?"

"He knows the landscape, and we can really use some more allies down here, if you know what I mean."

"Hahli, he was this close to bringing this realm to an end," Kit pointed out by measuring her index finger and thumb mere centimeters away from each other. "And, he was way more than willing to just let Mantax destroy the Mask of Life. He hasn't got a clue what will happen if anything—anything—happens to that mask, and he kidnapped Matoro because he has this idea in his head that anyone, or anything, that's not a Matoran or Rahi is an escaped Pit prisoner; he even thought _I_ was one. Therefore, I trust him as far as I can throw him, which isn't very far."

Hahli was about to counter, when familiar shapes showed up—the Toa Inika, Maxilos, and Spinax. "What happened to you guys?" asked Nuparu. Both girls relayed the story of their fight with Hydraxon, the Mask of Life, Mantax's demand, and the jailer going after him.

"Someone has to follow him while the rest of us make sure Mantax gets his wish for a meeting."

Matoro suggested they send Maxilos. "Spinax is supposed to be able to track a protodite across a planet, so finding one well-armed lunatic shouldn't be a problem. And, I'm sure Maxilos would be happy to help out . . . wouldn't you, robot?"

Kit couldn't help but notice something on the Ice Toa's mask; was that a sneer? Maxilos left with the energy hound right behind him, without a word.

"This is our chance to get the mask away from the Barraki," Hewkii spoke up.

"Yeah," Kit agreed, "but it won't be easy . . . or pretty. Things are bad enough down here as it is, but once we get the mask . . . well, the Barraki won't quit until they get it back."

"A lot of innocents could get hurt," Hahli concurred.

"Then let's see that they are ever-safe," said Kongu. "Who volunteers to deep-talk with Defilak?"

Kit knew the Air Toa had a point; Defilak would rather stand and fight than leave the only home he'd ever had for the past millennia. She understood that, of course; she knew she'd want to do the same, but letting the Matoran stay would be letting them commit suicide. "First we make sure the trap is set," Jaller said. "Then, we'll all talk to him. Maybe by then we can figure out how to tell a proud Matoran he has to run."

'Good luck,' Kit thought as she nodded along with the others.

* * *

Within moments, the team was ready to pass word onto the other Barraki about Mantax's request. Kit, to say the least, tensely made her way to her destination; senses, both natural and mechanical, on the alert and legs and powers ready to work at a moment's notice. She had very good reason to be on her guard; the Barraki she was sent to inform was none other than Ehlek, the one who seemed to hate her the most simply for the fact that she could breathe air. Then, one of those vampire squids came right at her, jaws snapping in anticipation of a meal. But, Kit was ready and sent it packing with an energy ball. As she grabbed her truce marker stone, she saw a lightning bolt heading for her. She dodged it and held up the stone.

"Wait! Hold it! I'm not here to fight; I'm here to talk," she called out.

She was still a fair distance away when the Barraki stepped out of his cave, regarding the girl with cold eyes. A school of venom eels advanced until they were several yards away from her. "Then I suggest you start talking, little one, and make it good," Ehlek said coldly.

"Don't you think it would be better to let me come a little closer?"

"That's the closest you're going to get. I'm not allowing any Toa, or their allies, anywhere near my cave."

Kit sighed, "Fine; I bring a message from Mantax. He has the Kanohi Ignika and--"

"Is demanding we Barraki all meet at the Razor Whale's Teeth to discuss his terms or the mask is destroyed," Ehlek finished in a bit of an annoyed and bored tone. Seeing Kit's surprised expression, he said, "I've already received 'your' message." Inside the cave, Kit could barely make out the starfish-hybrid creature from earlier. "Unless you have something else to say, I suggest you take your leave while you can," Ehlek hissed. Deciding not to try the Barraki's patience, the girl left without barely a second glance.

Kit was almost to the rendezvous point when she heard something like a struggle. When she investigated, she discovered a sight that took her breath away. It was Matoro struggling against a cloud that, strangely, seemed alive. Furthermore, the Ice Toa gasped, then went rigid, as if he were trapped in a suspended animation-like state, and the cloud started to seep into his body. Having seen enough, Kit launched herself forward and carefully fired an energy ball. To her surprise, not only did the ball actually hit the cloud and force it away, it cried out as well. She placed herself between Matoro and the cloud. 'What the heck is that thing?' she wondered as the cloud began to take shape. Recognition dawned on her when she saw a familiar form and face materialize in the cloud's upper half. "I should've known," she said to the cloud, which turned out to be Mirna. "I see you've even followed us to the bottom of the sea."

"And, I'm already getting tired of you getting in my way," Mirna replied.

A short pause followed before Kit asked, "Aren't you worried about the mutagenic agent in these waters, which will turn you into a being that can only live underwater?"

Mirna only smiled, "As long as I remain in my cloud form, I can survive down here and am immune to the mutagen."

Mirna moved in to try and get past Kit to get to Matoro, but Kit was ready and released an energy beam. Mirna barely managed to dodge it and fired black shadow-like bolts. Kit, however, summoned her shield and pushed it forward. With Mirna off balance, she then discharged a DragonBall sphere. Mirna saw the attack coming and moved away with inches to spare—only to find Kit charging at her faster than she'd ever seen any human move. The girl rammed her shoulder into the woman's torso, sending her flying through the water a good several yards. Now angry, Mirna saw her chance and released more bolts. This time, they hit their mark and Kit was sent to the ground, slightly winded. Mirna eyed the girl evilly, "Considering how the Toa were transformed, I see you no longer have your Inika suit," then moved in. By the time Kit regained her bearings, Mirna was practically on top of her and there was no time to do anything. Instinctively, her eyes widened in fear. Suddenly, to both the girl's and woman's surprise, an ice beam struck Mirna and, within seconds, every part of her essence was trapped up to her shoulders in a thick block of ice.

Kit looked behind her to find Matoro on his feet and offering her a hand up. "Thanks for the save," she said taking it.

"I owed you two," said the Toa of Ice, "now I just need to repay one more."

"Hey, whose counting?" the girl smiled, then turned her attention back to a struggling Mirna. "And, for your information, we've got more important things to take care of than the likes of you, which, in a way, I guess, is fortunate for you. So . . ." She brought her hands up and together, brought them back down in front of her, and fired a spirit burst as she finished, "Have a nice trip." The shot hit its mark dead-on, sending Mirna screaming as she flew through the water like there was no end to it. Kit, meanwhile, 'dusted' her hands off and turned to her friend, "C'mon, let's get out of here."

* * *

"Any luck?" asked Hahli, seeing the remaining two of their number arrive.

"Mission's accomplished," Matoro said matter-of-factly.

"Even Ehlek?" asked Jaller with a surprised cocked eyebrow.

"Yeah, though not by me," Kit answered. "Someone already beat me to the punch."

"Uh . . . I thought you were supposed to give-deliver a message, Kit, not challenge him to a battle-fight," said Kongu, confused.

"It's a figure of speech, Kongu. I mean somebody else already told him."

As the Toa of Air nodded his head in understanding, the girl then asked, "So, what's the next step?"

"The, as I believe you call it sometimes, 'fun' part," replied Jaller, not at all sounding like he thought it was going to be fun. "We go tell Defilak he and the other Matoran of Mahri Nui have to evacuate."

* * *

Back at Mahri Nui, Defilak waited. It had been hours since the Toa Mahri and their human friend left meet with their comrade, Hahli. Now, he was wondering if something happened. He was about to leave when he heard a voice outside the bubble call to him. It was Kit, with the entire Toa team. The girl passed through the bubble, retracted her fin extensions, and took off her helmet before the Le-Matoran could speak. "Defilak, there isn't a lot of time. You and the Matoran have to evacuate the city."

"Why?" asked Defilak.

"Up above us, connected to the other end of the stone cord, is an island called Voya Nui," Kit replied. "That's where you and the other Mahri Nui Matoran came from; it was once your home. It was once a part of a continent, but, during an event called the Great Cataclysm, it broke off and shot up to the surface world."

Defilak almost couldn't believe it. He and the other Matoran of Mahri Nui once lived on an island that was floating high above their heads? The news was overwhelming, to say the least. "You were there," Matoro continued, recapturing the Matoran's attention. "You and your fellow Matoran. Over time, new land formed around the island, and Mahri Nui was built on that land. But, the ground was unstable; it broke off and Mahri Nui sank down here. Until a few days ago, everyone on Voya Nui thought you were all dead."

"I said when we first met there were friends who would want to meet you," Hahli said gently. "They will welcome you back with joy."

"Back? How do we go back?" asked Defilak.

Jaller pointed to the cord that Kit mentioned moments ago. "We came down it to get here. Now, you and your people will travel up to get to safety. It's the only way."

"Even if what you speak-say is true, we can't fear-flee our home," the Le-Matoran replied, shaking his head. "We can't let-allow the Barraki win."

"They're not," Matoro assured with determination in his voice. "It's possible that _no one_ is going to win. Maybe all anyone can hope for at this point is to survive, and this is your best chance at that."

"Matoro's right, Defilak," said Kit. "Your sacrifice is honorable, but not necessary—that's our job. _Your_ job is to live and make sure your friends can do the same."

The heroes waited for several minutes as Defilak looked at Mahri Nui, the Matoran operating the defenses, and the surrounding black water. Finally, the Le-Matoran made his decision—this might've been their home for the past millennia, but they didn't belong here, "What do we have to do?" While Jaller discussed the plan with the Matoran, Kit thought back to what Matoro said and made a decision of her own—neither side winning this fight was as out of the question as the Barraki winning; they couldn't afford it. And so, she made a personal vow that as long there was a way, and if she found it, she would make sure that the good guys came out on top.

* * *

Before everyone knew it, the Toa Mahri and Kit were leading the citizens of Mahri Nui through the stone cord toward Voya Nui. The girl and Toa were as vigilant as Kit when she met with Ehlek on his own turf; senses alert for any movement. They hadn't forgotten their encounter with the Zyglak when they first came down here. However, to their amazement, there didn't seem to be any sign of them; even Kit's scanner didn't pick them up. 'I don't like this,' Kit thought to herself. 'This is even more unnerving then having to fight them again. Are they somehow hiding in a way that my scanner can't detect them or have they left the cord? If they did leave, where could've they gone?' Realizing that the only other way out of there was up—toward Voya Nui—Kit suddenly got a sickening feeling in her stomach.

"I'll swim ahead; see if I can find anything," said Hahli.

"Alright, but don't go too far," Jaller said.

The Toa of Water winked at him and moved forward. No more than three minutes passed when Hahli's startled cry was heard, followed by what sounded like someone colliding into the wall. Before anyone could stop her, Kit pushed on to find out what was wrong—only to see a Zyglak drifting in. She was about to fire an energy ball when she realized to her horror that the creature was dead, as were the two that followed it. Suddenly, the visor on her helmet came to life showing a gray dot 'attacking' the blue one she identified as Hahli. What was more, five more of the threatening gray dots were heading right for them from behind.

She was about to warn the others when she heard Jaller say, "Everyone get ready. We've got company." Apparently, the Toa of Fire, thanks to his mask power, detected them, too. Kit and the Toa prepared themselves, the girl watching both the dots on her visor getting closer and the darkness of the tunnel where they just came from.

At first, she wasn't sure if it was some trick of her mind, or if she was really seeing what she was seeing, but, before she could figure it out, she was slammed into the tunnel floor and immediately felt something serpentine wrapping around her body. When she saw the face of her attacker, she couldn't believe her eyes—it was a face she hoped never to see again.

"You!" she exclaimed.

"Me," answered the head of Thok, amused.

Thinking fast, Kit grabbed him and hit his head against the ground. Stunned, the Piraka let go and she moved to gain some distance. It was then that Kit got a good look at the Piraka—or rather what was left of him. There was practically nothing left of Thok except his head and spine. Hearing what sounded like a battle ahead of her, she found the rest of the Toa as well as the rest of the Piraka, who now, like Thok, resembled something more like a snake or an eel.

"Didn't we already beat these guys?" asked Hewkii as he slammed Vezok into the floor with a whip of his chain.

Kongu dodged one of Zaktan's laser blasts, "Not good-well enough, I guess, or they're just stubborn."

"I vote for stubborn," Kit said as she released a barrage of energy balls at Thok, who deftly dodged them and continued to advance toward her.

When he was close enough, Thok noticed something he found a bit odd. 'Why is she smiling?' Before he could stop himself, he got his answer when the girl hit him with a charged up, more powerful and larger ball from her fist—he was doing exactly as she wanted. The white Piraka floated in the water, unconscious.

"Your fault!" Avak screamed as he coiled his body around Nuparu's arm. The Toa of Earth grabbed hold of his enemy's throat to keep his sharp teeth away from him. "If you had just let us have the Mask of Life, this never would've happened!"

"Excuse me, but . . ." said Kit's voice. Before the brown Piraka could react, he suddenly found himself screaming in incredible pain. When he managed to turn his head to look behind him, he found the young human holding his tail-like spine in a vice-like grip and bending it backwards. To make matters worse, with Nuparu holding his neck, he couldn't fight back. "Whatever made you think in the first place that we were just going let you have that Kanohi?" Kit asked in a low voice. "Now, either get off of him, no tricks, or I break it, section by section if I have to."

Considering how intense the pain was, and the look in her eyes, Avak had no doubt the girl meant business. And so, begrudgingly, he released his grip on the Toa's arm. 'Stinkin', miserable flesh-creature. I'll get you for that,' he thought to himself as he swam a short distance away. About then, Kongu used his Mask of Summoning to call on swarms of underwater insects. At first, Kit was skeptical about what the small creatures could do until they attached themselves to the Piraka and began to sting them continuously.

"What's the point of this, Zaktan?" asked Jaller as he tried to down the Piraka leader with bursts of flame, without success. "You want the Mask of Life, but we don't have it. Fighting us accomplishes nothing."

The Piraka used his spine to seize a Ga-Matoran named Idris by the neck and slightly squeezed. "Wrong," he replied. "It brings you pain, and we want to go on bringing you pain, Toa. Now, lay down your weapons and surrender, or this Matoran dies—along with many more, and you know how many we can kill before you can stop us."

Kit growled, wanting so much to do something, but unable to do so without risking an innocent. Thankfully though, Idris had a plan. Her questioning eyes met with Jaller's, the Toa gave her the ok, and she fought back against her captor with her electro-blade. Zaktan's erupted in a bright flash as he screamed, causing him to let go. Idris leapt aside as Kit fired a double-handed sure shot at the Piraka, tearing away a good portion of his body and making him scream some more before his protodites began to compensate for the damage.

"Whoa, that's new," said Jaller, eyes wide in surprise.

"I've been meaning to try it for some time," Kit said proudly, and she blew off an imaginary wisp of smoke from her conjoined index fingers.

However, the victory was short lived. Out of nowhere, Reidak attacked, tearing the tube on Kit's Mahri suit that pumped air in and out of her helmet clean off its helmet socket. Before anyone could do anything, walls suddenly appeared on both ends of the tunnel, cutting the heroes off from the Matoran; they were boxed in. On top of that, Kit was just as quickly entrapped in a sphere full of water and the water in the new chamber began to rapidly drain out. Instantly, the Toa Mahri began choking and gasping in a vain effort to breathe. On her end, water had filled up her helmet so fast, Kit wasn't able to grab a breath of what air was left. She frantically pounded, kicked, and used any energy attack she could muster, but nothing seemed to faze her prison. Though Jaller's vision was beginning to fade badly, he could plainly see that Kit's eyes were reaching out to him, pleading to be set free.

Meanwhile, Avak chuckled as he watched from the other side of the wall. "Fish out of water and a Kikanalo in water. Gasp and fight for breath in your last moments, Toa and human, but don't worry—we'll take care of your Matoran friends once you're gone."

'I . . . won't . . . let you,' Kit thought to herself, despite the fact she was beginning to lose consciousness. She had taken in a mouthful of water a moment ago and it was her last thought as her eyes closed and she sank to the bottom of her sphere. She became very, very dimly aware of a loud humming that resounded in her ears. Then, she knew no more.

* * *

When Kit opened her eyes, she found herself blinded by a small bright light that gave her a momentary headache, but she could feel that she was lying on her back on solid ground. She heard voices, but, due to her cloudy mind, couldn't make out how close they were, or what they were saying. But, she could recognize the tone—pure joy. "Have I died and am on my way to Heaven?" she mumbled as she attempted to shield her eyes.

"Nope, you're still alive," a voice chuckled next to her. "By the way, what's 'Heaven'?"

As Kit forced her eyes to focus, her blurry vision saw the shape and form of a familiar red Great Huna. "Vakama?" she asked, confused.

"Vakama? Who's Vakama?"

Kit rubbed her eyes to clear them, only to find that she couldn't believe what—or rather _who_—was in front of them. "Balta?!" she exclaimed as she sat up so fast, the startled Ta-Matoran toppled over onto his back.

"Nice to see you again, too," Balta commented as he looked up at her.

Feeling something different, she looked at herself and discovered, to her surprise, that she was back in her regular clothes. "Where . . . what . . . how did I get here?" she finally managed to choke out; she was so astounded at this exciting turn of events, she was nearly speechless.

"Axonn was beginning to lead us down the cord when he noticed you and the Toa were having some trouble," Balta answered. "Trouble with a capital 'p', if you know what I mean. So, he knocked them, and you guys, out with a jolt of electricity."

That's when it all came back to her: the evacuation of the Mahri Nui Matoran, their fight with the Piraka, the prisons Avak trapped them in. "The Toa," she said with concern in her voice, "are they . . .?"

"They're fine; see for yourself," Balta assured her, and pointed to a small crevasse—the same one that Kit recognized as the one where Axonn carved out for her and the Toa to follow the Mask of Life to the sea.

The girl got up and peered down. All six of the Toa Mahri were reviving in a pool of water. Breathing out a sigh of relief, Kit turned her attention to what all of the celebration was about. All around, the Matoran of Voya Nui were receiving their lost Mahri Nui brethren with the joy and happiness that Hahli said they would. "Hey, Kit," a voice called. It was Dalu, followed by Garan and the rest of the resistance members.

"Hey, guys how are you doin'?" Kit greeted.

"Great, now that the Piraka are gone," said Piruk.

Just then, Axonn appeared so suddenly, Kit took an involuntary step back. "You and the Piraka took the brunt of the blast," he said to Jaller below, as well as to Kit, who was beside him. "I am glad to see you all survived."

"Me too," agreed Kit.

"Me three, and, speaking of which, where are the Piraka?" said Jaller.

"They're not down there?" asked Kit, confused. The Toa of Fire shook his head in answer.

"There's no need to worry about them anymore," Axonn said as placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "They've been . . . taken care of." Before Kit could question him further, the red and silver titan said, "You have all been in a war, I see."

After taking a moment to examine his damaged armor and weapons, Jaller replied, "And, it's still going on."

Matoro then swam up next to his comrade and told Axonn that the time for mysteries was past. "I was told by . . . someone . . . that we have to shatter the cord linking Mahri Nui and Voya Nui to complete our mission, and that will result in the destruction of both islands. Is that true?"

"It is and it is not," Axonn answered, and he went on to confirm that the cord did have to be severed and Mahri Nui would be destroyed as a result, but explained that Voya Nui would not suffer the same fate.

The island would return to where it originally came from, and the heroes had to go there with it for that was where the Mask of Life had to be in order to complete its task. "All right," said Jaller, "then we use the Cordak blasters and blow it now."

"No! You mustn't, not yet!" said Axonn. "First, you must have the Mask of Life in your hands, for once you sever the cord, you won't have time to retrieve it."

"What about the Matoran?" asked Kit. "They'll all be killed if they stay on the island."

"That's where the second part of what you must do comes in," Axonn replied. "You must give me time to get the Matoran to safety. There are chambers underground where they can stay until Voya Nui is back where it belongs."

"Got it," Kit said, giving the giant a thumbs up.

And, as Kit summoned her Mahri suit, breathing tube fixed and all, and dove in to rejoin the Toa, Matoro reached up and grasped Axonn's hand. "You do what you have to do. We'll get the mask, I promise you that."

Both Kit and Jaller glanced at the Toa of Ice, hearing a grim and resolute tone in his voice. "Determined, isn't he?" said Kit. "Was he always like this?"

The Fire Toa shook his head, "He's definitely not the Matoro who left Metru Nui with us."

Axonn told the group to follow him, dove in the water, and, as told, they followed. He led them into a side chamber and pointed at a rather bizarre sight. At first, Kit thought with all of the mechanical add-ons and weaponry, it was some sort vehicle. But, when its front part and legs moved, she realized with a start that what they were all looking at was a giant species of marine Rahi.

Wasting no time, Axonn used his axe to carve out the words: "Get in." Initially, Kit was confused. How were they supposed to get _inside_ something that was alive without getting eaten first? Then, she noticed that the Toa were slipping in between the beast's armor plating. She looked at Axonn, who urged her to go on, then, doing her best to ease down her squeamishness about the whole idea, she slipped in.

Inside, she found all of the Toa seated on chair-like apparatus. She noticed that Hewkii was no more comfortable about being here than she was. Suddenly, without warning, the Rahi darted forward and the Toa found themselves holding tight to the armrests to keep from being thrown off while Kit fell with a yelp. Before anyone knew what was happening, small techno-organic limbs reached out and took the Toa's armor, masks, and weapons. "What the . . .?" wondered Kit, then, as quickly as they were taken away, the items were returned. "Hey, check it," Kit said, amazed. All of the battle damage the armor, weapons, and masks had sustained was repaired; everything looked as good as new. As the Toa refitted their armor and masks, Kit commented, "Wow, a few more of these things and Metru Nui would be up and running again in no time."

"A few more of these Rahi and all of Ta-Metru would be out of work," Hewkii corrected, as he continued to closely examine his weapon and armor.

"Right now, let's worry about our _own_ jobs," said Hahli as she adjusted her mask. "We still have a mask to find and a cord to shatter."

"If someone doesn't beat us to it," said Matoro.


	5. More Complications

While they were still traveling in their Rahi transport, Kit noticed Matoro sitting alone in the back, and decided this was probably going to be her best chance to ask the Toa of Ice something she'd been meaning to ask him for some time. She walked to the rear and said, "Hey."

The Ice Toa started, as if he didn't realize she was there until she spoke up, "Uh . . . hey."

"Mind if I join you?"

"Go ahead."

As Kit took the seat Matoro offered, she decided to cut to the chase.

"Matoro, I'm asking this as a friend: is everything ok with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean is something going on between you and that robot, Maxilos? You seemed a bit eager to send him away earlier."

Matoro simply looked at the floor, not saying anything. And so, Kit chose to try a different approach.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but I was never comfortable around him. I can't explain it, but ever since I saw him, there was something about him that kind of freaked me out, but I just can't quite put my finger on it." The girl took a slight pause before continuing. "This might sound crazy, but, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that sometimes I can see and sense a familiarly evil presence inside that thing, but I can't place it."

Kit then turned to face the Toa. "Something's going on with you, Matoro. Something big. I know it and the others know it. Why won't you tell us what is? Maybe we can help."

"It's not that I won't, Kit," said Matoro, not taking his eyes off the floor, "it's because I can't."

"Why can't you?"

"It's . . . complicated, to say the least."

Matoro knew why Kit was asking all of these questions—she was concerned about him—but he still couldn't risk telling any of his friends of what was going on. Right now, the less they knew, the better. Thankfully, Kit understood from the look on his mask and in his eyes that he really did want to tell her what was on his mind, but, for some reason, he just couldn't. Therefore, she settled on changing the subject, somewhat. "Earlier, when I asked you if everything was ok, were you trying to tell me something?"

Matoro, knowing she was talking about when the group first split up to search the area around Mahri Nui for the Kanohi Ignika, looked into the girl's eyes and replied, "Yes."

Kit nodded and began trying to decipher the Toa of Ice's secret message. Matoro had said back then that everything was as fine as it was when she was sent back to the time of the Toa Metru, only she knew that wasn't completely true. For about half the time she was in that era, she had amnesia due to some energy attack she suffered on her way through the time portal, and Matoro would've known that. 'Why would he tell me something he knows is not true?' she wondered. She had just come to the startling answer—Matoro was trying to warn her that he was in some kind of trouble and couldn't tell her directly for some reason—when their ride came to a stop. They had arrived. Kit once again turned to look her friend in the eyes. Words didn't need to be said, and the two joined their comrades in disembarking the Rahi.

Kit admitted to herself that she was glad to be out of the animal. The group immediately took notice of the Barraki scattering due to an avalanche. "Over there," Matoro pointed. It was Mantax, still holding the Mask of Life, being pursued by Takadox, who in turn was being pursued by some giant sea Rahi with a huge, tooth-filled maw that looked like it came out of a nightmare.

'Looks like we _really_ have our hands full this time,' Kit thought.

"I guess we split up," Nuparu said, and the girl nodded in agreement.

Once all was said and done, the group also split up: Jaller and Matoro going after the mask, Nuparu and Hahli taking care of the other Barraki, and Kit and Hewkii the Rahi, which was identified as a Gadunka, except jumbo-sized.

Using her fins, Kit shot forward and passed right in front of Gadunka. The Rahi stuttered a moment out of surprise, giving Kit ample time to launch two energy balls. Both balls hit their mark, slightly stunning Gadunka. Once the Rahi shook off the stars that danced in front of his eyes, he charged toward the girl. Kit, however, anticipated this and moved out of the way. Gadunka was about to turn around to continue his pursuit when he found himself knocked off course due to a powerful upper-cut, courtesy of Hewkii. The Toa of Stone barely avoided the Rahi's snapping jaws as it lunged at him, but Kit gasped in horror as Gadunka caught Hewkii's leg on the second try and began to shake in a violent manner. 'If that thing keeps that up, he's going to snap Hewkii in half!' the girl thought to herself. She was about to release an energy attack when the Stone Toa grabbed a rock wall and used his leverage to slam Gadunka into it hard enough to let him go. As the fight raged on, Kit realized something odd, 'Why doesn't he just use his mask power to make that thing too heavy or too light to swim?' Almost as soon as she asked it, the answer came to her—Hewkii was a competitor, and where would there be competition in easily defeating a creature using a power it couldn't even hope to defend against? 'Oh, brother,' Kit sighed as she placed a hand to her head. 'Of all the times to challenge a Rahi to a test of strength.' At that point, Gadunka was on top of Hewkii—and the Toa wasn't moving. Once the Rahi was satisfied, it swam away, apparently having forgotten all about Kit. The girl rushed in, giving Gadunka a powered up punch. "Remember me, fish breath?" she asked as she floated in front of the animal. Gadunka was about to attack when he felt something wrap around his midsection. Finding a chain, he bit into it—only to be shocked by an electrical charge.

Confused, Kit looked beyond Gadunka to find Hewkii, alive and standing, holding the other end of his weapon. "Don't turn your back on me," the Toa of Stone grunted with exertion. "Bad enough you're a rampaging sea monster, at least be a polite one."

"Hewkii," Kit called, "will you stop playing around and take care of this Rahi. We don't have all day, you know."

"Yeah, give me a minute," replied the Toa.

Somehow, Gadunka managed to bite through the chain. Kit expected him to stubbornly continue fighting, but, amazingly, he stumbled a few steps and fell to the ground. Hewkii walked carefully toward the beast to retrieve his weapon while Kit stayed put. "Is it . . . dead?" she asked, also keeping a wary eye on the Rahi.

"No," answered the Toa of Stone quietly, "just knocked out." Hewkii bent down to pick up his chain, or rather what was left of it. Then, faster than the girl could warn him of the danger, one of Gadunka's eyes snapped open. He rolled, causing the Stone Toa to lose his balance, then grabbed his prey by the neck with his pincer and applied just enough pressure to strangle him.

"Hewkii!" Kit cried, shocked and horrified. Without any thought to what she was doing, the girl released a barrage of shooting crescents. Seeing the attack, but left no time to dodge, Gadunka instinctively covered his head. The crescents stung and the Rahi yelped each time he was hit, but refused to let go of his quarry. When the attack stopped, he let down his guard and looked up, intending to grab the small one as well, only to feel a shockwave. He spotted another one of what he had in his grasp and snarled. He was about to finish off Hewkii when he suddenly found himself rammed hard enough by Hahli and Kit to lose his grip on the Stone Toa. Gadunka no doubt would've counterattacked, but Kit fired an energy beam right in front of him. Seeing the devastating-looking hole the beam made in the sea floor made the Rahi think twice. There was also the little one to think about, too; her eyes were narrowed dangerously along with a 'come any closer, and you're dead' look. Meanwhile, Hahli tended to the recovering Toa of Stone and gently chided him for not just using his mask power. For a second, Kit refocused her eyes toward them and said loud enough for Hewkii to hear, "Nitwit."

Gadunka, seeing the girl's concentration had switched away from him, decided now was his chance and he moved forward to finish what he'd started. Kit turned her attention back to the Rahi and was about to fire another beam when she heard the Toa of Water call to her, "Kit, over here!" The girl didn't know what the Water Toa had in mind, but joined her friends, nonetheless. Hahli then summoned an underwater tidal wave powerful enough to knock Gadunka out cold. "C'mon, let's get back to Mahri Nui," said Hahli.

Kit, however, had other plans. "You guys go on ahead. I'm going to go check on Jaller and Matoro." The three Toa nodded and the group split up.

* * *

Within minutes, Kit reached the sea floor where her scanner showed the Toa of Fire and Ice were. When she got there, though she couldn't see Matoro, she knew he was nearby, and Jaller was reaching for the Mask of Life, which was halfway buried in the sand. For a moment, a relieved smile formed on her face; it was almost over, provided they could keep up the good work at keeping the Barraki at bay. Then, in the blink of an eye, her smile changed into a startled gasp as she noticed a most unwelcome sight. "Jaller, behind you!" she shouted, but her warning came too late.

The next thing the Fire Toa knew, someone had grabbed him by the throat hard enough to cut off his air and lifted him off the ground. It was Hydraxon. "I think that mask belongs to me," the jailer said.

'Man, this guy either just doesn't know when to quit or can't take a hint, can he?' the girl thought to herself. Next thing she knew, Hydraxon threw Jaller into a rock like he was trash and moved to claim the mask. However, he didn't take more than two steps when he heard something approaching and saw Kit charging at him before she slammed him into the ground so hard, the impact left an impression that was a good few feet deep. Hydraxon started to get up, but she gave a good, solid punch to his jaw, followed by a succession of others. He almost hated to admit it, but the girl's pulverizing was actually causing him to grunt in pain with each hit, and they were not reinforced with whatever power she had. Even he didn't know how he saw it, but he somehow noticed that that was about to change—her chambered fist was now glowing, and he'd seen what that power was capable of.

Desperate, he somehow succeeded in flipping her off him. "Living underwater has obviously clogged up your hearing, freakazoid," Kit said as the jailer struggled to get back on his feet; not easy since he just received a halfway decent beating. "I told you that mask is off-limits," and she went in again, fists glowing. Hydraxon dodged the charged-up energy balls. Kit threw a hook, but Hydraxon caught her wrist and twisted her arm behind her back. He thought he had her, but he was wrong. Unknown to him, Kit retracted the fin extensions on her boots and she sharply skinned his shin with her heel as she stomped hard on his foot. His grip slackened just enough to untwist her arm and she thrust a twist punch into his abdomen, making him double over as the wind was knocked out of him. She followed up with a hook kick to his head, sending him to the ground; with the extensions retracted, Kit could now kick more efficiently for fighting. She proceeded to move in again when, all of a sudden, Hydraxon grabbed her ankle and threw her into a rock much like he did with Jaller. He quickly moved for the mask while the girl was stunned, except a huge and wide wall of fire suddenly appeared. Looking behind him, he found the Toa of Fire to be responsible.

"Stupid runner. I'll just go over or around it."

Jaller, though, shook his head, "No, you won't." Now back on her feet, Kit smirked as she nodded in agreement with the Fire Toa.

For a moment, Hydraxon was confused, then found himself being attacked by his own hound, Spinax. Once more, Jaller reached for the mask, and, once more, he and Kit found themselves stopped—by Maxilos, who looked like he'd nearly been through a trash compactor and a walk-in freezer. "My thanks, Toa, for the well-timed wall of fire," said the robot, though Kit could've sworn there was something about his tone that seemed sickenly familiar. "Not that I couldn't have freed myself," Maxilos continued, "but I was curious to see just how far Matoro was willing to go." After speaking to Hydraxon, Maxilos went to take the mask as well.

However, Kit re-extended the fin extensions on her left foot and used it to flip the Kanohi up. "Matoro! Grab it!" Jaller yelled. Matoro appeared seemingly out of nowhere and caught it and his comrades joined him.

"What's going on here?" the Fire Toa wondered aloud.

"Yeah," said Kit, "what's with tall, red, and spooky back there?"

Matoro sighed, "I guess it's more than time I tell you. Let's talk as we go—we have a cord to blow up."

* * *

"What!?" shrieked Kit in surprise. "You mean to tell us that Makuta is not only still alive, but has possessed that Maxilos robot!?"

"And, you knew that this whole time?" Jaller asked with some anger in his voice.

Matoro solemnly nodded, he didn't blame them for feeling angry, shocked, and/or betrayed for not telling them and the others sooner. "Believe me, if there was a way I could've warned you, I would have, but he said he would kill all of you if I said anything."

"We could've taken him, if we had to," Kit scoffed.

"Along with the Barraki?" Jaller asked.

"Um . . . good point," the girl admitted; if they did fight both the Barraki and Makuta, they would've been overwhelmed and killed.

Seeing the somber look on Matoro's mask, like he felt like he'd let his friends down, Kit smiled and reassuringly patted the Ice Toa's shoulder. Even Jaller felt his initial anger draining away; he and Kit understood now that Matoro really did want to tell them, but, due to Makuta's threat, he was, as Kit called it, caught between a rock and a hard place. "You know, Matoro, you don't have to keep secrets anymore," said the girl.

"Pardon?"

Jaller explained that when he was a Matoran, working for Turaga Nuju as his translator, Matoro heard all kinds of things that the elders didn't want the general populace to know. "You were sworn to keep what you heard to yourself. For years, you knew all about Metru Nui and what happened there and you kept it secret."

"I had no choice. I did what the Turaga felt was best."

"I know that," the Fire Toa said softly, not wanting Matoro to unintentionally think he was being attacked. "But, doing so made you alone among the rest of us, an outsider. Now the Mask of Life is doing it too and it can't be helped."

"Still, you're a part of a team now, Matoro," Kit continued. "You don't need to keep everything inside anymore. We'll help you in any way we can, but, with Kongu no longer able to read minds, we can't do anything if you don't tell us." 'I should be one to talk,' Kit thought to herself, remembering that she, too, was bound to an oath not to share some information with her friends.

"What do you mean, 'the Mask of Life is doing it too'?" asked Matoro, confused.

"Remember back on Voya Nui, when Kongu insisted you be the one to remove the mask from Vezon?" asked Jaller. "He didn't explain why at the time, but he told me later that when he read the Ignika's 'mind' he discovered--"

"It wanted you to be the one to carry it," Kit jumped in. "You're the only one who can touch the Mask of Life without being cursed, which possibly explains why Mirna's so interested in you, too. Kongu wasn't sure if he should tell you or not, so Jaller said he would." Kit noticed the Fire Toa's questioning eyes and grinned. "Sorry, Jaller, I couldn't help but overhear."

"Why you little sneak," Jaller said with a smile, and moved to grab Kit, but the girl managed to get out of his reach and he chased after her.

Matoro, meanwhile, could hardly believe it. Out of all the new Toa, the Kanohi Ignika chose him as its new guardian? 'Why me?' he thought to himself. 'Hahli's faster . . . Hewkii's stronger . . . Jaller and Kongu are far more experienced as fighters. Why would it pick me?'

"Hey, Matoro," called Kit's voice, tearing him out of his reverie, "you coming?"

The Toa of Ice nodded and swam to catch up with his two comrades. "We haven't always been the best of friends," Jaller said. "I guess kind of tradition—fire and ice rarely get along, but I wanted you to know . . . I think the Ignika made the right choice." When a surprised Matoro asked him why he thought that, Jaller replied that no matter what the Ice Toa was asked to do, he got it done —even if it was hard, painful, or he hated having to do it. "Back on Voya Nui you questioned your worth to the team because you're not a warrior."

Seeing Kit's confused expression, the two Toa told her of the room where one of them had to be sacrificed before they could be allowed to proceed. "I never had to go through that," she said.

"Well, since you were all by yourself, there was no point to it," Jaller guessed.

Kit then faced the Ice Toa. "Matoro, being a hero isn't about who's strongest, toughest, or who has the best mask power—if it was, I probably wouldn't be this realm's Protector—it's about spirit, which I know about. And, believe me, you definitely have spirit. Therefore, you _are_ great Toa, so don't let anyone tell you or think otherwise."

"Why, Kit," Jaller smiled, "you can be a very motivational speaker when you want to be."

Kit simply scratched the back of her head and blushed. Matoro smiled as well, thinking that maybe Jaller and Kit were right, that he did have what it took to be a Toa. 'Perhaps, when this mission's over, I'll turn down the chance to become a Turaga and stay a Toa,' he thought. 'Even if I can no longer breathe air, there's still a whole ocean to explore.' "Thanks, you two," he said. "I really mean it. Especially that part about secrets."

"No problem," replied Jaller.

"Ditto," said Kit. "Let's just say I've been in your shoes." Matoro cocked a questioning eyebrow, to which Kit just winked, aimed a gun-finger at him, and continued swimming.

The Toa of Ice looked at his fire counterpart, who merely shrugged. "Now hang onto that mask, ok?" Jaller chuckled. "It's been changing hands so fast down here it's made me dizzy."

"Don't worry," Matoro said as he gazed at the glowing mask in his hand. "This time, it's not going anywhere."


	6. The Final Dash

Shortly after their heart-to-heart, Jaller, Kit, and Matoro found themselves at the outskirts of Mahri Nui, where they waited for their remaining four comrades. Kit couldn't help but notice that, completely abandoned now, the entire city looked like a ghost-town. Then, her eyes happened to wander onto the scorpion-like Rahi called hydruka at the fields of air. According to Defilak, the Mahri Nui Matoran had domesticated those Rahi when their efficient means of harvesting the air weed that contained the most air, which the Matoran depended on to survive here, was discovered. Now, with the Matoran gone, the hydruka seemed lonely and lost. Some kept looking around the place as if hoping to spot their herders coming back. Kit frowned, feeling sorry for them. They had no idea what was going on and that their masters weren't coming back. "I'll be right back," she told the Toa, and took off before either of them could stop her. Once she was close enough, she slowed down and approached slowly so as not to startle the animals. The hydruka took notice of her when she was still yards away. They backed away a bit in fear as she landed on solid ground. She expected the Rahi to react more drastically, but to her relief none of them attacked or fled. 'Ok, now what?' she wondered. To her surprise, a blue hydruka cautiously came closer. Girl and Rahi eyed each other for a minute, then the hydruka sniffed her. Suddenly, she noticed that the Rahi's tail was preparing to launch an air bubble. Though she knew the bubble wouldn't hurt her, she still instinctively ducked to the side. 'Ok, this is going to be fun,' she thought, then she heard something like a roar. Looking behind her, she saw a Takea shark that was faltering due to the bubble that struck it. She launched an energy ball to scare it off and the predator swam away.

After making sure the shark wasn't coming back, Kit looked back at the hydruka, who looked at her as if saying, 'You ok now?'

"Thanks," she said as she gently patted its head, and the Rahi cooed contentedly. Getting to her feet, and wishing she had a Kanohi Rau, she addressed the Rahi congregated around her. "You can go wherever you want to. You can leave now." Some of the hydruka, including the blue one, cocked their heads in uncertainty. "The Matoran are gone; they're not coming back. Soon this place is not going to be safe. You all have to find some shelter for a while, then you can stay here if you choose. You're all free." Kit waited to see what would happen. The hydruka looked at each other, as if confused and unsure. Then, they all took off; even if they weren't sure of what the strange, tall, multicolored Matoran was saying, they recognized some words: 'Matoran', 'gone', 'not', 'safe', and 'free'. Though the Rahi didn't mind their lives with the Matoran, freedom didn't sound too bad either. Meanwhile, Kit could hardly believe what she was seeing. The Rahi really understood her in some way and were doing as she said? She looked down to find the blue hydruka still next to her. It regarded her with a look of thanks and trust. "You take care of yourself now, you hear?" Kit said to the animal. The hydruka chittered and left to join its brethren.

* * *

When Kit rejoined the Toa, she found that Hahli and the others had arrived.

"Where've you been?" asked Jaller.

"Taking care of a little unfinished business," the girl replied.

"Spooky," said Nuparu, referring to Mahri Nui which was slowly being claimed by the sea as its air bubbles collapsed one by one. "Almost like a giant memorial stone for an entire people."

"The Barraki won't be far behind us," Hahli spoke up.

Kit nodded, "If we're going to do something here, we better do it now."

Jaller grabbed hold of his Cordak blaster and said, "Hewkii, you're the one with the dead aim. What part of the cord do we target?"

The Toa of Stone peered at the stone cord, using his natural skill as a rock crafter to determine its weak point. He pointed at a small spot a little above the city. "There. All seven of us firing everything we've got at that spot will shatter it. My question is—then what?"

"Axonn said Voya Nui would go back to wherever it came from," Kit answered. "Although, he didn't say how or how fast, so I highly recommend we be prepared for anything."

Jaller looked to others and asked, "Everybody ready?"

"Check," said Hahli.

"Got it," confirmed Hewkii.

"Uh huh," replied Kongu.

"Yep," Nuparu answered.

"Ok," Matoro verified.

"You bet," Kit responded. "Let's do it."

As one, the entire team aimed their weapons of choice, the Toa their blasters and Kit a double-handed sure shot, at their objective. "Hey, Hahli, try hitting the target for a change," said Hewkii.

Knowing the Stone Toa was only joking, the Toa of Water smiled. "Excuse me? Who won all those kolhii matches?"

"Yeah, Mr. Smarty Mask," Kit joined in. "I happen to recall she even beat you at your own game."

"I've not-never had an island fall-drop on my head before," Kongu said. "This should be interesting."

"New day, new experience," replied Nuparu cheerfully, which succeeded in earning himself a glare from the Toa of Air.

Suddenly, Kit's scanner came to life, warning her of danger coming from behind. "Um, guys, guess whose coming to dinner."

The Toa Mahri turned around to find Gadunka coming at them—and he didn't look very happy, either. If he was suffering from any injuries from his earlier fight with Hewkii, he didn't show it. "My old pal," the Stone Toa said sarcastically. "Too bad we don't have any of those explosive madu fruit from our old island. I could teach him how to play fetch."

Upon seeing the Rahi's massive jaws, Kongu remarked, "Your 'pal', huh? Sometimes I wonder about your taste in friends, Hewkii."

"So do I, everytime I look at you," the Toa of Stone retorted, earning himself a dead-leg from Kit.

"We don't have time for this. Every minute we waste brings Mata Nui closer to dying," said Matoro.

"Don't worry," said Hewkii. "Thirty seconds tops should take care of him."

"Assuming you don't do what you did last time," remarked Kit.

"Hey, I may be a Toa of Stone, but I can learn from my mistakes, can't I?"

"Uh oh," said Nuparu.

"What do you mean 'uh oh'?" asked Kit. The Earth Toa pointed and, when she saw what he was talking about, she gasped. It turned out that Gadunka didn't come alone. He was followed by the 300-foot long venom eel and the massive Rahi that Kongu summoned earlier. "Looks like someone really didn't like you disturbing his nap, Kongu," Kit commented.

"Better make that forty seconds," Hewkii corrected.

* * *

'This is bad, very bad,' Kit thought to herself. Barely ten minutes had passed and things for her and the Toa Mahri were already not looking good. Before he could use his mask power against the venom eel, Hewkii got stunned by a brutal attack from Gadunka, and Jaller and Matoro were knocked out from a single blow from the behemoth. Seeing Gadunka going for the Mask of Life, she intercepted him and fired a DragonBall sphere. The Rahi roared in pain and Kit moved in. However, before she could continue, Gadunka's pincer snapped around her waist and he threw her with such force to the ground, she was rendered unconscious.

"Kit!" Nuparu called, seeing what happened, and he too challenged the Rahi. Using the power of his Mask of Stealth, he phased out. Gadunka's eyes blinked in confusion and he looked around for any sign of the black being that was in front of him a minute ago. Finding none, he shrugged and again reached for the Kanohi Ignika—only to start at a rocket exploding near him. He found the source to be Nuparu before the Earth Toa phased out again. The Toa repeated this several more times; his plan was to confuse the Rahi to the point that it would chase after him. His plan worked halfway, though; Gadunka's eyes never completely left the prize he sought. Seeing this wasn't working, Nuparu threw a boulder at Gadunka, but the Rahi simply used his jaws to bite it in half. 'Ok. New plan,' thought the Earth Toa, and he used his elemental power to create a chasm right underneath Gadunka. Before the Rahi knew what was happening, he fell in. The Toa of Earth waited to see if anything would happen, but nothing did. "Glad that's over," he sighed as wiped his brow, and turned to check on Matoro, Jaller, and Kit, who were starting to wake up. Suddenly, a pincer erupted out of the sea floor, clasped around Nuparu's waist, and slammed him into the ground three times. Though severely dazed from the attack, he managed to look over his shoulder to find the owner of the appendage—Gadunka.

The Rahi was about to make the Earth Toa when he spotted the Mask of Life. He tossed aside Nuparu and grabbed it. The mask, however, reacted to being taken away from Matoro the only way it knew—by cursing that who, or which, was not destined to carry it in some form or another, and Gadunka's wasted no time in going right to work. Kit, who had finally completely regained her wits, was about to attack the Rahi when, before her astonished eyes, it began to shrink. It shrank and shrank and shrank until it was no bigger than half the size of her small finger. Gadunka looked at himself, then at the girl, and opened his mouth in what she suspected was meant to be a roar of frustration, but it was too small to be heard. For a minute, Kit was tempted to just flick the little Rahi away, but, for reasons unknown to her, she decided against it. Instead, she simply gave it a look of supremacy, placed one hand on her waist, and pointed toward the ocean at her right side. "Move it, buster," she commanded. "You've had your fun being a rampaging beast and, therefore, caused enough trouble to last a century." Recognizing the expression on the girl's face and the tone in her voice as that of dominance, Gadunka swam away. "What in the world happened?" Kit asked, scratching her head in confusion as she watched the Rahi.

"Apparently, his curse was devolving anything he touched until it returned to its original form," answered Nuparu.

"And, he, in a way I still can't see how, became his first victim," said Hahli.

Meanwhile, Matoro moved to grab the Kanohi Ignika, but Hydraxon's voice stopped him. "I wouldn't. That mask comes with me."

Jaller and Nuparu prepared to face him and Kit, fists glowing, jumped to the Ice Toa's side. "You so much as take one step toward him, and I'll be starting with your right, and don't you dare think I won't do it; you know I will," she warned, reminding him of her threat from hours before. Matoro, however, waved off his fellow Toa and placed a hand on the girl's shoulder, his eyes telling her he had a plan, and she backed off a bit.

Matoro locked eyes with Hydraxon and held out the Kanohi. "You want this? Take it. Go ahead. Then the fate of the universe can be on your head instead of mine. I never asked to be the one everything depends upon." When Hydraxon asked Matoro what he was talking about, the Toa of Ice asked him if strange sea creatures appearing out of nowhere, an entire Matoran city sitting abandoned, and the Barraki and their armies running wild was normal and mentioned things were probably worse back at Metru Nui. "The end is coming, Hydraxon, even as we speak, and everything that lives can sense it. And, now everything comes down to one mask and one Toa—me—and maybe I'm just not up to being a hero. So, you take it. You save the universe."

"Or, knowing you, destroy it. Then when everyone asks why everything's coming to a screeching halt, we can point them to you and just watch the show as they beat you to a pulp and tear you apart," Kit added.

Hydraxon looked at the mask, as if unsure of what to do, then into Matoro's eyes. He recalled how Pit prisoners plead or threatened him or insisted they were innocent, but their eyes always told the truth. And neither Matoro's nor Kit's eyes were lying. "Maybe I've seen a few strange things," Hydraxon admitted, remembering his encounter with Maxilos earlier, "but, that's a pretty powerful mask. What are you planning to do with it?"

After stealing a glance at the mask in his hand, Matoro replied, "When I find out, I'll let you know. So, Hydraxon, do we have to fight, or will you let us pass?"

A long, tense moment passed as the jailer wrestled with whatever thoughts were going through his head. He seemed to take such a long time, Kit was getting tempted to just blast him away. Finally, he reached a decision. "I have runners to catch. You can keep your toy for now, but stay out of my way in the future, understand?"

"Somehow, I don't think that'll be a problem," Matoro said, shaking his head.

"Provided you stay out of ours," Kit added.

And with that, Hydraxon took his leave. Hahli was possibly the only one who seemed to see a sadness that appeared to hang over him like a curtain. "It's like he's looking for all these escapees, but he's the one who's really lost," she noted sympathetically.

"Oh, forget him already, Hahli," said Kit. "He's a clueless jerk."

"Besides, our troubles aren't over yet. Look!" Hewkii pointed.

A dark wall was heading right for them. "That doesn't look good," Kit remarked in a quiet voice. Then, the entire group realized that what they were seeing wasn't a wall at all. It was a legion of thousands upon thousands of sea creatures, and they were all being led by the Barraki. "Definitely not good," Kit corrected with a hint of nervousness.

"I expected them sooner," Jaller commented. "Let's make their trip be for nothing."

As one, the Toa Mahri and their human friend aimed and fired their choice weapons. The six Cordak blaster rockets and double-handed sure shot streamed out and converged on the target spot of the cord. An incredible explosion shattered stone an instant later, indicating for all around that the cord had been severed—the island of Voya Nui, which had been adrift on the ocean's surface for 1,000 years, was coming home at last, and nothing could stop it. "Move! Move!" yelled Jaller. Although, there was really no reason for the Fire Toa to do so, the others were already moving as fast as they could go. As the sinking island fell, the group of heroes each reflected both on the fact that they walked on it just a day ago, and that it seemed as if it was being pulled by a string toward its destination.

However, they didn't have time to wonder about that right now. 'The Barraki are going to be more desperate than ever to get their claws on the Mask of Life,' Kit said to herself as she stole a quick glance over her shoulder. She thought back to what Matoro said to Hydraxon on how every living thing in this universe could feel that it was all about to come to an end—unless she and the Toa Mahri stopped it. She never personally thought that she could feel such a sensation, but, now that the Toa of Ice mentioned it, she did feel a strange and intimidating feeling that something with the fabric, the very foundation, of this realm wasn't right. It felt like it was starting to tear and crumble. The feeling was also accompanied by an interesting realization—for once in a long while, the fate of the Bionicle reality didn't rest on her shoulders. True, she did help out when it came to retrieving the Ignika and keeping it safe, but the fact was that it was now all up to one person and it wasn't her. In a way, it was a little comforting. Determination fueled her on, and she swam alongside her friends after the runaway island.

* * *

"I hate to be the one to say this," said Kit, "but I don't think we're going to make it."

"Just keep moving!" Matoro shouted back without looking back.

Kit pooled all of her focus into her legs to keep them kicking. Even with her fins pushing her forward, she still had to pump them in order to keep up with Voya Nui and the Toa. They were all tired from swimming pretty much non-stop ever since this whole fiasco under the sea started. The Kanohi Ignika flared brighter in Matoro's hands and, from its light, she saw a gigantic hole in the sea floor. 'Is that where the island originally came from?' she wondered, recalling that her Matoran friends on Voya Nui mentioned that their island was once a part of a large continent until the Great Cataclysm violently shot it upward to the surface. She noticed that Matoro seemed to somehow get a sudden burst of energy and swim faster. Judging from that, she took it as a sign that they must be getting close to their goal and she willed herself to keep up. Suddenly, the Ice Toa came to an abrupt stop as fast as he increased his speed. Kit almost didn't avoid crashing into Kongu. "Hey, Matoro, what's the holdup?" The Toa of Ice was kneeling on the ground, holding the Mask of Life. The girl instantly noticed how dejected the Toa's posture looked. Having a sickening feeling she wasn't going to like whatever was going on, she came in closer. "What is it?" she asked, then she saw. The mask, which was glowing like crazy a minute ago, was now as gray as slate. 'No,' she thought; there was only one thing she could think of that this meant—they were too late; the Great Spirit had died. By now, the rest of the team had caught up to them and either felt something happen, or noticed the Ice Toa and the girl's expressions. 'It can't be,' Kit said to herself in disbelief, 'this can't be how it ends; it just can't be.' But she could feel it, as well. There was no denying it; she could sense a drastic shift in the fabric of existence in this realm.

"We're too late," Matoro said in a low, defeated tone. "He's dead."

"We'll be, too, pretty soon," Hewkii pointed out, referring to the Barraki and their combined forces that were still charging toward them as if they didn't sense a thing that just happened. Kongu suggested they destroy the mask to make sure the Barraki couldn't use it at all, but Nuparu didn't see how that would help, now that the mask appeared practically useless to everyone.

Matoro, however, suddenly decided they had to try one last time, considering he was holding a Mask of Life. Kit caught on immediately what the Ice Toa had in mind. "He just might have a point. It must be called the 'Mask of Life' for a reason. What if there's some way to use it to bring Mata Nui back to life?" Anyone else would've thought what Matoro and Kit were suggesting was insane or wishful thinking. Jaller, however, knew better; he was once killed by a Rahkshi and resurrected by a being called Takutanuva. Therefore, who was to say that what the Ice Toa and girl were saying was impossible? Certainly not him.

"We have to go, now!" Matoro urged. "We have to try!"

Jaller looked between Matoro and armies of the Barraki, and said to the Toa of Ice, "No. _You_ have to go. _You_ have to try. We'll stay here and buy you time. Go!"

Matoro gazed at the Toa of Fire, understanding that his friends, even Kit, were ready to die if need be in order to give him the chance to do what must be done, and the two shook hands.

"Make sure to tell the new Chronicler what happened here," Hewkii told him. "I'd hate to think we went through all this and don't get a legend out of it."

"And, make sure they pick a good Chronicler," Hahli added.

"Yeah, maybe a Ko-Matoran, just for variety's sake," Kit said with a forced smile.

Matoro noticed through the girl's visor that her eyes seemed to be holding more moisture than normal. He'd never witnessed this, but he'd heard of it from the Turaga and Toa Takanuva. "Don't cry, Kit," he said quietly as he gently took hold of her chin in his hand.

"Don't worry, Matoro, I won't," she replied. "Do me a favor though; if you ever somehow get in touch with my family, tell them I love them. Or, if you ever talk to Tehreisha, ask her if she can somehow deliver the message."

Personally, the Ice Toa felt either of those situations were extremely unlikely, but he nodded nonetheless. Now, too choked with emotion to say more, he continued the chase after Voya Nui. The rest of the Toa Mahri, meanwhile, turned their attention to the oncoming onslaught, prepared and resolved to meet their fate.


	7. In Honor and Memory of a Hero

Just before the armies were upon them, Kit's scanner came to life on the far right of her visor. She turned until the dots centered on the visor, at this point facing back down where Matoro went. There was white dot that she knew was the Toa of Ice and gray dot moving after him—and closing in. "Jaller, something's after Matoro," she informed the Fire Toa. "It must be one of the Barraki's sea Rahi."

"Go on!" the Toa of Fire commanded, and the girl was off like a shot.

As she swam, she kept an eye on the dots on her visor, gasping when the gray one literally got on top of the white. Within minutes, she had reached her destination. Matoro was under attack by Mirna again and the two were now tumbling through the water toward Voya Nui's goal. 'Honestly, she's as bad as Darcius,' Kit thought to herself, and went in.

Mirna was about to attempt to meld with Matoro when something slammed into her, dislodging her from the Ice Toa. "You really don't know when to quit, do you?" she asked the girl.

"I could say the same for you," Kit retorted, and she sent the woman against a wall and flipped over.

Looking back, she saw the Toa of Ice continuing on his way and giving her a thumbs up. She returned the gesture, then released a sure shot. Mirna shifted, but the shot got her shoulder and she screamed in pain. Clutching her wound in agony, she looked past Kit to see Matoro was almost out of sight; there was no way she would be able to catch up to him now. She glared at the girl, "This is not over." She changed into her more cloud-like form and drifted toward the surface.

"And, I'll be waiting," Kit said with narrowed eyes as she watched the cloud disappear, then made her way back to the battle.

* * *

When Kit returned to the battlefield, she found the Toa Mahri fighting the good fight . . . and losing. Sea creatures were attacking left, right, up, and down in waves with no regard for their own well being. She joined in and rammed a shark. "Kit, behind you!" Nuparu called. Kit turned to find Pridak charging right at her. But, to everyone's save Pridak's surprise, instead of gaining some distance from 'The Shark', Kit swam right at him. She chambered a fist in preparation for attack.

"I've had it with you!" she shouted, and punched—right in Pridak's right eye. The white Barraki roared from the pain and clutched his eye; it was unlike anything he'd suffered before.

Kit, meanwhile, smirked. It was as she suspected. The Barraki shared the same weak spots as the Rahi they commanded, in Pridak's case, since he resembled a shark, the eyes and gills. Then, she turned her attention back to the other Barraki and their Rahi and narrowed her eyes, rage and adrenaline making her blood boil like it never had before. Carapar was coming right at her, intending to cleave her in half with his pincers. However, Kit moved too quickly for him and, with charged up punches, hit his joints, the only kinks in his strong armor. Ehlek moved in after his comrade fell, but fell victim to Kit's twin energy beams. Suddenly, Kit felt a grip on her ankle for a split second before she found herself being slammed onto the ocean floor. She shook her head to clear it in time to find Kalmah standing over her and preparing to strike with his tentacle. Thinking fast, Kit rolled aside, grabbed the appendage, and leveraged the Barraki against a rock. Before Kalmah could react, the girl, with fin extension retracted on her left foot, kicked him in the face several times before she let him go. Then, she moved to join the Toa—only to have Takadox get in the way. The mantis-like Barraki peered at her with his eyes. Knowing what the Barraki was planning, Kit instantly dropped to the ground and swept his legs. Off balance, Takadox fell and Kit dug her heel hard into his abdomen. Takadox wheezed as the air was knocked out of him. Before she could take a breather, Kit felt movement behind her. She looked to find Mantax meaning to spear her with his poisonous barbs, but she managed to flip over at the last minute. She landed onto the Barraki's back, sending him into the ground, and left to join up with the Toa in taking care of the Rahi.

Although, it seemed the more they defeated, the more the fallen were replaced. Before anyone knew it, they were in a circle with their backs to each other, surrounded. Hewkii spotted some sharks trying to go the way Matoro did and used his mask power to make them so heavy they went through the ground. Hahli figured out that the Rahi were trying to get around them. "The Barraki know they just need to tie us down here," Jaller said as he and Kit repelled a group of venom eels. "And, if enough of their creatures reach Matoro--"

"He'll be fish food," Kit finished for him.

"Not if I can help it," said Jaller. Hahli heard the strain in the Fire Toa's voice and looked to find him glowing white-hot.

"What are you doing!?"

"If there's no other way . . . I'm going to go nova," answered Jaller. "If Matoro's far enough away, but his pursuers are close enough--"

"Are you crazy!?" shouted Kit. "You'll kill us all and everything for miles around!"

"If Matoro fails, we're all dead anyway," Jaller responded. "You five go, try to get out of range. I'll wait as long as I can. Go!"

Hahli, however, shook her head, saying that the group had already been through a lot of battles and they weren't going to stop now. Kit, at the moment, glanced down the way Matoro went, wondering how the Toa of Ice was doing.

* * *

Down, down Matoro fell in the heart of a waterfall just after nearly getting crushed by Voya Nui when it fell back into place. Everything was a blur and he couldn't be sure of what he was seeing: high mountains, murky water far below, and dark winged shapes. It was now he realized that though the Mask of Life was now where it needed to be, he had no idea what he was supposed to do with it.

"Put on the mask," a voice said.

"What? Who said that?" he asked, but the voice, a voice he was not even sure he was really hearing, simply repeated its last statement.

Matoro gazed at the Kanohi in his hands, remembering how Turaga Nuju once told him that the universe is a riddle and, though it won't give direct answers, it will give you clues so you can figure out the answer. Then, Matoro knew what he had to do and he put on the mask. Almost immediately, he felt as if a current of energy tingled all over his body and he fell toward an unknown target. He also noticed that his body was changing, turning into pure energy. He was dying. The Matoro everyone knew was dying, yet he didn't feel any fear, only peace. As his transformation continued, he began to forget how it felt to be in battle or lonely. He was now beyond pleasure, pain, satisfaction, and disappointment. Then, he remembered his friends—Jaller, Hahli, Hewkii, Kongu, Nuparu, and Kit—whom he had shared so much with over the past few weeks. They were now fighting the Barraki to death, but no one would know of what they had done for the greater good. He couldn't let that happen. And so, for his last few minutes as Toa Matoro, Toa Mahri of Ice, he held onto his consciousness and asked the Mask of Life to let him use its power to save them. The mask obliged, and Matoro proceeded to perform his final and simple act of friendship. Only when that was done did he finally surrender himself completely and gratefully to his destiny and his and the mask's energies merged, filling the universe core with light as it exploded.

* * *

Jaller knew he had to do it now. Carapar got the best of Kongu, Nuparu was captured by Kalmah's forces, Kit was out cold, Hahli and Hewkii couldn't hold out much longer, and there was still no sign if Matoro was successful. He closed his eyes and prepared to unleash his powers in their extreme. "Jaller, stop! Don't! Stop!" Hahli shouted. The Fire Toa opened his eyes to the familiar sight of the Ko-Metru Knowledge Towers and Coliseum of Metru Nui. It took all of his willpower to force down his nova power.

"W-We're back!" said Kit as she deactivated her armor suit.

"We're back. How's this possible?" asked Jaller.

"And, we're on land and breathing air," Hewkii commented. "I thought we couldn't do that anymore."

"Wait a second, one of us is missing," Nuparu said as he helped up Kongu. "Where's Matoro?"

All of a sudden, the group heard a sound they'd never heard before—Turaga Nuju speaking Matoran from atop a Knowledge Tower. "Mata Nui lives! The Great Spirit lives!" Kit and the Toa Mahri smiled; they'd done it, Mata Nui had been restored to life. That's when they realized their missing comrade was the reason why they were there.

"We have to go back and find him," said Jaller. "We owe him that much."

"We all owe him a great deal more than that," said a voice. It was Vakama followed by Nuju. The Turaga of Fire told the group of how he'd seen Matoro give his life to save the Great Spirit's. "Come, my friends, let us go and celebrate a Ko-Matoran who became a Toa . . . and a Toa who saved a universe." With reluctant hearts, the Toa followed the two Turaga into the city, though Kit needed to be snapped out of her trance by Nuju. Only Hahli noticed that the girl's eyes were downcast.

* * *

Later that day, Jaller absently walked through Ko-Metru, thinking of his lost comrade. Though he was happy for what Matoro did, it still didn't take away the aching, empty feeling he felt inside his heart. Suddenly, he was aware of something that sounded like pounding. He followed the sound until he found the source and, quite frankly, he didn't know what to make of it. It was Kit punching the wall of a Knowledge Tower. Jaller silently approached her, feeling a little concerned about this behavior.

Kit, meanwhile, had no idea he was there. She just kept venting her feelings of guilt, sorrow, hurt, and maybe a little anger through her fists and into the crystal wall. She hit and hit and hit until she didn't have the strength to do it anymore. Seeing a hint of red on the wall, she looked at her right hand. It was bleeding along the space between the index and ring knuckles where the skin had actually split open. She simply let her hand drop to her side, as if there was nothing wrong with it. "Kit?" she heard a voice say her name, but she didn't even start. Instead, she slowly turned to look behind her.

Jaller started a bit when he saw his human friend's forlorn expression. Judging from the moisture on her face and her red eyes she'd been crying for a little while. Then, she turned back around to face the wall. "Are you going to be ok?" asked the Fire Toa.

Kit wiped her eyes as she shrugged. "I'm going to miss him," she finally said when she found her voice.

Jaller stepped beside, gently grabbed her shoulders, and turned her to face him. She didn't resist, as if all of her energy, her drive to fight back, was gone. "I'll miss him, too, Kit," the Toa admitted. "But, he did what he was destined to do, and in doing so, he saved not only Mata Nui's life, but all of ours as well."

"I know, but it doesn't make it any easier," Kit responded.

"No, it doesn't," Jaller agreed.

Kit then embraced the Toa of Fire in a hug, which Jaller reciprocated. "Are you coming to the memorial ceremony?" he asked. Kit remained silent for a little bit; of course she wanted to go, but the problem was she didn't know how she was going to get through it. "You don't have to go if you really don't want to," said Jaller. "I know everyone will understand."

Kit shook her head, "No, I-I want to go."

Jaller slightly smiled, patted the girl's head, and the two of them headed for the Coliseum.

* * *

The sky became overcast with gray clouds that threatened rain. All of Metru Nui was gathered at the arena of the Coliseum. Normally, it was used for sporting events, celebrations, and public gatherings. Today, though, it was being used to hold a city-wide memorial ceremony for Matoro. In the stands, Matoran comforted each other as they mourned the death of a great Toa. Meanwhile, at the doorway, the Toa Mahri and Kit stood in a line, their minds thinking of their friend rather than focusing on the words of the Turaga. Kit's hand was wrapped in a bandage. Hahli, naturally, was the first to notice the first raindrops on the ground.

"It's raining."

"Even the heavens weep," said Hewkii.

Kit looked up at the sky, raindrops hitting her face. Hewkii's comment made her remember something she heard the Turaga say earlier in the service—that since Matoro gave his lifeforce to the Great Spirit, one could say the Toa Mahri of Ice was now a part of everything—the sky, the water, the sunlight, every living thing that walks, flies, swims, or crawls on this world. Therefore, though Matoro may be dead, but, so long as Mata Nui lives, he would never be truly gone. 'Could he be in the heavens, the rain, too?' she wondered. 'If so, could this rain be Matoro or Mata Nui grieving with us?' Feeling her eyes sting again, she dropped her head. Hahli noticed and wrapped a comforting arm around the girl's shoulders.

As the service continued, Kit became aware of a change. Looking up she saw the clouds starting to part to the point a beam of sunlight shone through—right on her and the Toa Mahri. More and more beams shone through as the clouds continued to dissipate and the rain decreased to nothing more than a light sprinkle. Then, a rainbow appeared a top the Coliseum for everyone to see. Some, including Kit, gazed at the sight in amazement, it was quite beautiful. On her part, though tears of grief still flowed, Kit smiled with pride and joy. To her, the whole thing was a message from Matoro that he would miss his friends as much they would miss him, but he had no regrets.


End file.
